Part One: Loving the Unknown
by China Dolly
Summary: A Hyuuga Prodigy falling in love with a few flattering notes could only happen in someone’s dream, right? Shounen ai
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings: **cursing and shounen ai  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto or any of its characters  
**Author's note: **I'd like to thank my Beta for her very fast work.

**Chapter 1**

He wondered how women could act so unreasonable and never seemed to use their brain when in love with someone.

They would get very giddy and the worst of all was that it seemed that they just couldn't stop blushing.

No, he wasn't pondering on what his fan-club could be doing right now. He was reading one of Ten-Ten's treasured books. The downright horrible fact about it all? He liked it.

No, not Ten-Ten, he liked the book. And why would Neji Hyuuga, prodigy of the Hyuuga clan, be reading a girls-only book? All because of a mission.

It had been a fairly easy mission to start with, just a simple "get the seemingly innocent, rich, flirty girl from A to B within the day" sort of mission.

They hadn't expected to be attacked on their way back to Konoha.

They also hadn't expected their enemy to have the newest, state-of-the-art poison ready for use.

What they could have expected was that Neji would be the one on attack. Not because he was a Hyuuga, but because of his personality and pride, he felt obliged to protect Ten-Ten.

Not because he was madly in love with the girl but she had bruised her ankle and thus wasn't in the condition to jump around throwing weapons.

Tsunade had said Neji was lucky, because it wasn't a deadly poison. Neji simply felt unfortunate because he was confined to a bed for a few days.

It was the sort of poison that caused a malfunction. A nasty malfunction in his muscles, which was indeed quite unfortunate.

Neji was carried back to the village on his teachers' back, much to his own disgust.

Tsunade had taken care of most of the poison, also attending the ribs he had broken when he was flung against a tree by his enemy.

Now Neji was stuck in the hospital with broken bones and sore muscles. Nothing too serious and he was expected to be dismissed from the hospital the day after tomorrow. But that didn't mean he was having the happiest time of his life.

To top it all off, his teammates and his teacher hadn't even come by to see how he was doing. He frowned at that and wondered if people really thought he was that much of an asshole. Because honestly, nine of ten times he didn't mean to be.

* * *

A soft and hesitant knock on the door made him look up. He was grateful someone actually came to visit him even though his injuries were trivial. He almost smiled but in the end stopped before his lips could quirk upwards. He had changed, yes of course. But what would it do to his image if someone actually saw him smile?

"Uhm, Neji nii-san, a-are you awake?" A nervous voice sounded through the door.

Neji did smile when he realized it was his cousin, Hinata.

"I'm awake." He called out, his tone much more gentle than most people were used to.

Unknown to other people, because they simply didn't pay attention to him, he was quite fond of Hinata and Hanabi. He also cared a great deal more about his uncle now than he did at the Chuunin exams four years ago.

"Neji nii-san, thank goodness you're f-fine!" Hinata smiled brightly at him as she entered the room.

Immediately she walked to the chair next to his bed and sat down.

"It's nothing. Just a few scratches. Don't worry about it, Hinata-sama." He said, trying to sound reassuring.

Because if he had been completely honest, he would've told her he had a serious head-ache and that the pain in his muscles was killing him.

"Broken bones and poisoned muscles don't count as scratches." Hinata told him, a stern look on her face.

"Besides, how many times do I have to say it's Hinata?" She chided.

Neji nodded and as he did all those times before, promised: "I will try."

"Good," Hinata nodded with a slight smile.

"You should try to keep your promise this time."

Neji turned towards the door and tried to make a respectful bow. But he stopped mid-way and slowly sat up again as he felt his muscles protest in a very painful way.

Instead he just nodded to the man by the door and said: "I certainly will, uncle."

His uncle, Hiashi Hyuuga, sighed at the somewhat uncomfortable attitude of his nephew.

Neji had changed a lot over the years. He not only came to respect both Hinata and Hanabi, but treated them as family as well. That was already a miracle to Hiashi.

Yet it seemed that, even though things were cleared up between them years ago, Neji still felt uncomfortable around him.

But Hiashi knew better than to try to change that forcefully. He would just have some patience and one day, when Neji was ready, they could all live as a family.

"I am sorry to disappoint you, uncle." Neji said in an almost timid voice. He curled his fingers around the blanket covering him, staring at them quite intently.

"Have you disappointed me?" Hiashi questioned him when he stood near the bed Neji was currently occupying.

"I got hospitalized during a fairly easy mission. That must have disappointed you in some way," Neji explained.

Hiashi just raised an eyebrow and in a strict voice said: "The only thing that disappoints me is that the blow against that tree didn't knock some sense into you."

Neji stared at his uncle in bewilderment, not knowing what to say.

Meanwhile, Hinata turned to her father and looked at him a bit horrified. "Father!"

"Yes Hinata? Did I say something wrong?" Hiashi asked his daughter.

"Ah, I… well, you see-" Hinata stuttered. A blush appeared on her cheeks and she fidgeted with her fingers while trying to think of something to say.

Neji was trying to gather his thoughts on how to react to his uncle's words. But he couldn't think of any words to say or another way to react than just stare at his uncle in complete and utter puzzlement.

Hiashi, understanding Neji's confused state, smiled fondly at his nephew's expression for a second. "You're family, Neji." He simply said.

Neji frowned. Of course he was family, he knew that. Hiashi didn't have to point out to him they were family; the curse-mark on his forehead was proof enough.

"I know that." Neji spoke slowly, carefully picking his words. "But I don't understand."

"You were never known to be dense, Neji. So don't start that now." Hiashi said in a bit of a harsh tone. But his look softened as he continued. "You are family. I worry about you when you go on a mission and I fear for your life when you return injured."

Neji felt his eyes widen at the caring words. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it immediately as he found he didn't know what to say. He turned his head away with a slight blush of sudden shyness on his cheeks.

"Thank you." He whispered and Hiashi and Hinata were lucky to hear the soft whisper.

Hiashi and Hinata were both smiling and enjoying the fact they finally seemed to have gotten through to Neji.

Meanwhile, Neji was staring down at the sheets with a blush on his cheeks. His uncle had just said in actual words Neji was family and that he worried about him. He blinked and smiled slightly.

He knew his uncle cared about him but never found out to what degree. He felt warm inside and realized it was the happiness that he had denied himself for a long time. Perhaps now it was the time to grow up emotionally as he had done mentally over the few years.

Neji closed his eyes and thought that getting poisoned wasn't such a bad thing after all.

* * *

Two hours later both Hinata and Hiashi had left. Neji was now alone again with his borrowed book.

Over the years, Neji had come to appreciate reading more and more. It had started out with a fascination with books about birds for a reason he'd rather not think about anymore.

The books about game tactics followed because he had been set on defeating his fellow genius, Shikamaru Nara. After failing three times Neji had decided he had embarrassed himself enough in front of the other man and settled with teaching Hanabi how to play Shogi.

One time, Naruto had shown to Neji one of the "dirty-books" that the Toad Sage Jiraiya wrote. Neji remembered quite well how he had chased Naruto down the entire village when the blonde had claimed to a poor passer-by that Neji actually read the book.

Well, to say that Neji loved to read books would be an understatement. Although it was quite embarrassing to him it was a girls' book that he was reading right now.

So when the door was thrown open he couldn't be fast enough to hide the book. He shoved it underneath his pillow, keeping an eye on the intruder.

To his own surprise it wasn't Lee or Ten-Ten and it wasn't even his teacher proclaiming that because he was in the hospital he wasn't a Youthful and reliable ninja anymore.

No, it was Ino Yamanaka, a girl which he only knew by name and looks. He had also heard the rumours about the fact she was the source of all the gossip that went around town.

Neji had to suppress the urge to sigh. He wondered why she was visiting him anyway. Last time he checked Ino was working very hard on getting over her crush on the runaway Uchiha.

He looked at Ino, then at the small bouquet of freesias in her hands and immediately thought the worst.

He hoped she wasn't too set on catching his interest or using him for a rebound romance. He certainly wasn't interested in Ino's kind of girl.

While Neji was somewhat angsting on finding the best words to tell Ino he certainly held no interest in her and probably never would, Ino was looking at Neji with a raised eyebrow.

'Boys can be so single-minded sometimes,' she thought with a sigh.

Neji was beautiful, anyone could see that. But she knew it wouldn't be such a good idea to go for another guy very soon again. Not after her first crush had betrayed the village.

Ino smiled brightly as she remembered the flowers in her hand. "These are for you!" she exclaimed while shoving the bouquet in Neji's hands.

Neji looked shocked for a second before looking up at Ino with a frown. "Why?"

"Probably because you are in the hospital," Ino giggled and Neji could swear she was inwardly laughing at him.

"Uhm…" He paused for a moment to think about a way to bring the news to her gently and found one he thought very suiting to his personality. "I don't like you."

Ino raised an eyebrow at his bluntness and in an irritated voice said: "That's nice to know. I don't like you either."

"Then," Neji glared at the flowers for a second, "why the flowers?"

"I work at a flower shop. Someone wanted these flowers to be delivered to you," she said with a shrug. Why couldn't this guy ever try to make a conversation?

Understanding dawned upon Neji and he bowed his head with a grateful quirk of his lips. "Thanks for bringing them. Do you know who they are from?"

"Not the brightest crayon in the box when it comes to being wooed, are you?" she asked with a giggle. "There's a card attached to it," she said, pointing to a small card dangling from one of the flowers.

"I hope you can get out of the hospital really quick. Bye Neji!" she waved with a smile before leaving him alone.

* * *

With a frown Neji looked at the flowers in his hands. Someone had sent him flowers.

He wondered if it was really girly that he felt a warm and giddy right now.

He couldn't help it, not really. No one had ever given him anything besides a birthday present and those were almost mandatory.

But now someone had sent him flowers on their own free will. He was nervous to look at the card because what if they were from Ten-Ten?

He almost knew for sure that the girl didn't like him "that" way but he could always be wrong.

No, he decided, if Ten-Ten was going to do something for him she would come by and ask how he liked the book she gave him.

After a few minutes he nervously grabbed the card and turned it around so he could read it.

His eyes widened slightly at what he found written on it though.

No name, no small-talk, not much of anything actually. Just a few words written neatly on the card.

"_Get well soon."_

Neji took a small breath of surprise and could only wonder who would send him flowers.

**TBC.**


	2. Chapter 2

See the first chapter for the Disclaimer. If anything changes I'll let you know.  
Now, enjoy!

**Chapter 2**

Neji could hear stumbling from the other side of the door and sighed.

There could only be one person making such noise and disturbing the peace in a hospital and Neji wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with him now.

He didn't dislike Naruto, not at all. They had become tight friends throughout the years and he cherished Naruto's friendship.

But Naruto could be so loud sometimes that it would give him a head-ache. And with his current head-ache, things might not get much better.

But it would be kind of pointless trying to stop Naruto from visiting him. After all, Neji had asked for visitors so he was getting them.

The door flew open and the situation that followed could only be described as awkward and funny.

With humour in his eyes and a smirk on his lips, Neji watched how Naruto stumbled inside.

Naruto's eyes widened as he tripped over the slight step by the door and tried frantically to get his balance back to normal.

When he stood finally still, he turned towards Neji with a goofy grin. He rubbed the back of his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, how are you doing Neji?" he asked, still grinning but with a nervous edge to his tone.

Neji snorted at Naruto's natural clumsiness. It suited Naruto because that was the kind of person he was. But never would Neji understand how Hinata could think such a thing endearing.

Neji looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow and asked: "You're not expecting me to say I am fine, are you?"

Naruto let out a laugh and sat down in the same chair his girlfriend had sat in just a few hours ago. "Well, considering, it was a stupid question. But you're out of here by tomorrow, right?"

"Yes," Neji said and as in afterthought continued: "Luckily I am."

Neji wasn't the kind of person to be happy with having to stay in bed all day. It would suit some other Konoha Ninja very well, Neji knew.

But Neji was glad he was to get out of the hospital so quickly.

"Nice flowers," Naruto commented somewhat dryly as he looked at the flowers with a slight frown. "Who are they from?" he asked while reaching out for, the card.

But before Neji could answer Naruto ceased his movements to glance at Neji, "They're not from Hinata, right?"

Neji frowned at Naruto's almost jealous question. He shook his head with a small sigh. "Naruto, Hinata is my cousin."

"So, that can't mean you don't secretly like her." Naruto said stubbornly and Neji looked at him in horror.

'Naruto did not just say that!' he thought. The nightmare of him actually liking Hinata beyond anything but family made him shiver.

"Naruto, she's family!" Neji hissed and if his muscles didn't hurt so much, he would've kicked Naruto out of the hospital for sure. "Why the Hell would you think I like Hinata, my own cousin, anyway?!"

"Well," Naruto looked down in shame. He felt embarrassed and stupid for even suggesting Hinata liked his girlfriend. Neji was a good friend and he and Hinata were family.

"You know, it's me. A clumsy, irritating, loud and joking Monster." Naruto looked away and Neji could see sadness written all over his face.

Naruto let out a somewhat bitter laugh and with a shrug of his shoulders said, "What's to love about that. If Hinata falls in love with someone else I totally understand."

Neji stared dumbfound at his normally energetic and happy friend and could only wonder, 'What the Hell just happened?'

Neji wasn't a people person. He wasn't the talkative guy and he was now at a loss on what to say to Naruto. But when he heard a soft sniff coming from his side, he turned towards Naruto very quick.

"You don't seem to trust Hinata all that much."

"Wha -"

"I know my cousin and when she says something she means it. And while I certainly don't understand how such a silent girl could ever fall for a flamboyant guy like yourself, you do have good points Naruto."

Neji took a deep breath and even managed a small smile when Naruto looked up at him with watery eyes.

"You inspire people with that big mouth of yours, you make people laugh with your jokes and that Monster inside of you has saved us quite a few times. Hinata has loved you for a very long time. Don't take that lightly."

Neji took a breath and with a raised eyebrow looked at Naruto. "You're fine now, right? I think I have just reached my word-limit for the day," he said somewhat dryly.

For a second Naruto looked dumbly at him. Then he smiled slightly and, scant seconds later, burst out laughing.

* * *

"That's a side I've never seen you show before," Naruto said with a grin when he had calmed down a bit.

Neji looked at Naruto and wondered how such a guy could be surprised by someone showing another side.

"It's almost like you care," Naruto teased.

"I'm not a social retard, Naruto." Neji was getting irritated with this conversation. It was time to change the subject.

So he smirked, looked at Naruto and on a tone so bored it could rival Shikamaru's said, "By the way, Hinata didn't give me any flowers."

Naruto looked at him and Neji felt almost evil when he saw the smirk disappear from Naruto's face. Naruto's eyes grew wide and he gasped softly.

Neji could see him mouth 'no way' and he had to bite his lip to not burst out in laughter.

"Then who gave them?" Naruto asked loudly.

Apparently Naruto was now back to his normal, loud self again. Neji almost regretted that.

"Heh, as if I'm going to tell you," Neji huffed.

But Naruto, being Naruto, found another way to find out who gave Neji flowers.

Neji could only watch as he saw Naruto dive for the flowers and grab the small card that Neji had placed on top of the bouquet.

"Ha!" Naruto triumphantly held up the card.

But when he read it he frowned, "It isn't signed. Who would send flowers without signing the card?" he questioned. The same question Neji had been asking himself.

"I don't know. I tried to…" Neji trailed off as he saw Naruto's expression change.

It went from proud of himself to an expression that could only be described as: 'Shit, I've forgotten something important.'

"Naruto?" Neji asked, somewhat cautious because he didn't know for sure if he wanted to know. "What's wrong?"

"I uh, I've got something for you." He said, reaching into his pocket only to fetch a wrinkled note.

Neji looked at it with a raised eyebrow. He could see his name written on the paper. Any normal person would be curious and Neji was no exception of that rule.

"What is it?" Neji asked. He knew it was a letter of course. But immediately asking if he could have it would seem so childish.

"It's some sort of note, I guess," Naruto said as he handed the note to Neji.

Neji gasped as he recognized the handwriting on the small envelope. It was the same as that on the card that came with his flowers. 'No way,' he thought, 'this can't be happening.'

"I found it at my door before I went to visit you. I guess someone wanted you to have it," Naruto explained with a shrug.

Neji shot a nervous glance to the letter in his hands. He was anxious to know who wrote him the letter. He also wanted to know what would be written on the paper in that beautiful handwriting.

He looked at Naruto and saw him looking at the letter quite curious.

When Naruto noticed that Neji was looking at him, he looked up.

"I know you're itching to read that letter," Naruto told Neji with a grin. "So go ahead. Read it right now if you want." Naruto paused for a moment and his grin changed into a smirk. "All I want is to read it too."

"Naruto," Neji warned with a glare.

Yes, Naruto was right about the fact that Neji really wanted to read the letter. He was almost dying from curiosity but he wasn't going to tell that to Naruto.

Besides, the letter was addressed to him so he considered it private.

"Ah Neji, come on!" Naruto pouted. "I brought it to you. If it weren't for me, you would've never gotten the letter. I didn't even forget it! Well, I actually did but I went back to get it," Naruto said with a small laugh.

Neji looked at his friend and sighed. Naruto was right. And under certain agreements it wouldn't be so bad to let Naruto read it.

"You won't tell anyone about the letter," Neji threatened with a glare. "And I get to read it first."

Naruto nodded with a very big grin. He placed his hands in his lap and started dangling his legs. "Take your time," he said.

Neji took a deep breath and opened the envelope. He revealed a cream-coloured piece of paper from it.

He folded it open and with a slight blush of excitement read:

"_Dear Neji,_

_Please understand that 'get well soon' is not the only thing I want to tell you.  
__M__any are the hours that I have watched you.  
__Your beauty resembles that of a rose; I am allowed to watch, but forever denied the chance to get close.  
__How I wish I knew of a way to get close to you. That I could think of words to say to bewitch you. To make you fall for me as I did for you.  
__But that will come in time, if you wish._

_For now I wish you all the best and I do hope to see you out of the hospital very soon. The streets seem almost empty without you there._

_With love."_

Neji was blushing like mad when he finished the letter.

'Oh my God!' He couldn't believe this was happening to him. That someone would write him such words was unbelievable.

He swallowed as he wondered who indeed would write such words about him.

He turned the letter over, and then over again, but he found no name, no indication whatsoever of who seemed to cherish him so much.

* * *

"Neji?"

Neji was shaken from his thoughts when Naruto called out his name. He looked up and saw that Naruto was smiling at him.

No, not really smiling. It was more of an evil quirk of his lips.

"Y-yes?" Neji silently cursed himself for stuttering. He also cursed the fact that he was probably blushing as red as a tomato now too.

But he simply couldn't help it. Those words were quite the shock for him, if not embarrassing. He had never heard someone speak about another person in such a way. And now to hear it about himself was something he found hard to grasp.

"Well, let me read it!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. "If it makes you blush I'm very curious."

Neji was now regretting to the agreement of letting Naruto read the letter. But he had said Naruto could read it and Neji wasn't the kind of person to go back on his words.

So with reluctance he handed the letter to Naruto who took it eagerly.

While Naruto was reading the letter, Neji was trying to sort his thoughts out.

Apparently someone cared a lot about him. Someone who wanted to let Neji know he was liked, but not by whom.

It spiked his curiosity and he smiled at the thought of being liked and liking someone in return.

Neji wasn't naïve or unemotional. He simply never found a person he could like. Maybe now he could have his own change at loving someone.

'Or maybe I'm just overreacting and rushing into things.' He thought. Well, it could be a nice pursuit to find out which of the two it was.

* * *

"That's a way with words." Naruto commented suddenly.

Neji looked up at his friend with a frown on his face. _That _was all he could come up with after having read the letter? Well, he wouldn't have anything to worry about then.

"So…" Naruto grinned as he leaned his elbows onto the mattress of the bed, looking up at Neji. "You officially have a Secret Admirer now. Good job," Naruto said as he gently punched Neji in the shoulder in a playful manner.

Neji glared at Naruto as he rubbed his shoulder. He wasn't going to whine about the fact his shoulder was now hurting again. He hoped his glare would give Naruto enough of a message.

"You know, you did say I couldn't tell anyone about the letter, right? But you said nothing about a secret admirer. Oh, I am so going to tell this to Hinata and Sakura!" Naruto rambled excitedly as he stood up from the chair and left the room.

Or maybe he was fleeing, because Neji's shouting voice could be heard from outside the village.

"Naruto, you bastard! Get right back in here!"

But Naruto didn't listen, of course. And all Neji could do now was pray someone would cut him some slack on the gossip mill.

He shook his head with a sigh as he leaned back against his pillow with closed eyes.

He didn't know what was going to happen from now on. He wondered if he would be bombarded with gossip and rumours now that Naruto figured out he had a secret admirer.

What would Hiashi think of it? And who the Hell was this admirer anyway?

He didn't know all of that but he was sure of one thing. He couldn't wait for the next letter to appear.

**TBC.**


	3. Chapter 3

See the first chapter for the disclaimer.  
Enjoy this chapter and please leave a review!

**Chapter 3**

Today was a good day. The sky was blue, the sun shining brightly, and there was a nice breeze.

But even if it had rained cats and dogs it still would have been a good day. For Neji at least.

Because today was the day he was allowed to leave the hospital.

Neji felt excited as he straightened his clothes. He felt so much more comfortable in his own clothing than those awful and hideous hospital gowns.

He laid the hospital gown on his pillow and he took the flowers which were still standing next to the bed. He leaned towards the bouquet and took in the smell of the freesias.

He smiled slightly when he felt a light flutter in his stomach. It was a good feeling but Neji still wished it wouldn't last for so long.

Not because he didn't like the feeling, but it made him also feel very uncomfortable.

He took a deep breath and shook his head. 'If you don't want to think about it, don't.' He thought.

* * *

"Neji!"

Startled, Neji turned to look on his right. He frowned as he saw Naruto making his way towards him.

Naruto was grinning like an idiot and panted slightly as he stood still in front of Neji.

"Hinata and I were planning to pick you up when you left. But we kind of forgot," Naruto explained with a goofy grin.

Neji frowned at those words. It wasn't like Hinata to forget something. Suddenly he noticed the small blush on Naruto's face and his eyes widened.

'No way,' he thought. 'But they have been dating for a year,' his mind reminded him. But as Neji realized where his thoughts were going, he paled. 'Hinata is my cousin. She doesn't do that sort of thing,' he concluded.

He shook his head and looked at Naruto again. "That's all right. I wasn't counting on anyone picking me up. Were you going anywhere?"

"I was getting you, obviously. Hinata said she'll treat us to Ramen," Naruto said with a gleeful smile.

Neji raised an eyebrow. "This isn't one of your tricks to lure me into a surprise party, is it?" he asked a bit cautious. After all, with Naruto you were never sure where you would end up.

"No, I am not taking you to a surprise party. I'm just fetching you because Hinata wanted to treat you to Ramen," Naruto explained with a wide grin.

Neji simply rolled his eyes. He had to admit he'd rather go home to rest right now than get some ramen with Naruto and his cousin, but if he didn't go he would probably feel guilty later.

Neji sighed, sometimes he didn't like this emotional side of himself.

* * *

"Hello Hinata." Neji nodded at Hinata as he saw her.

Hinata smiled at him. "I'm sorry. I was teaching Naruto how to play Go and completely lost track of time. I was planning to pick you up from the hospital," she said as she fidgeted with her shirt.

Neji simply shot her a small smile as he sat down next to her. "It's all right. I wasn't counting on it anyway."

"Well, you can move again so we just have to celebrate that!" Naruto laughed as he patted Neji on the back.

Neji grimaced as Naruto hit a sore muscle but kept quiet. He didn't want people to fuss over him.

"I'll go get the Ramen! Neji, what flavour do you want?" Naruto was looking at him, almost urging Neji to just hurry up.

"Whichever. Just pick one for me," Neji said with a shrug.

He frowned as he watched Naruto skip away, ready to order some Ramen.

"He is not giving you a headache, is he?" Hinata asked her cousin with a slight smile. She knew Naruto could be somewhat loud sometimes and that Neji was the kind of person who got a headache from it very quickly.

But Neji shook his head. "It'll be fine. I won't stay that long anyway. I feel somewhat tired."

"Tired? If you are tired then shouldn't you have stayed in the hospital, my youthful friend?" This voice was loud, and where Naruto's voice was enthusiastic, this one simply hurt Neji's ears.

Neji groaned softly as he saw his green-clad teammate smile brightly at him. If Naruto was the beginning of a small headache then Lee was a full-blown case of migraine.

"Lee," Neji greeted his friend with a grimace. "I am fine."

"Yosh, that is good! So shall we spar together soon, my eternal rival?" Lee smiled and Neji was slightly afraid that if he stayed exposed to those bright teeth for too long he would turn blind.

"Lee, he just got out of the hospital, leave him alone."

Neji nodded gratefully as he saw Ten-Ten appear next to Lee.

She smiled at him and waved to Hinata. Suddenly, her eye fell caught something Neji had desperately tried to hide from sight.

But Ten-Ten squealed happily and pointed towards the chair next to Hinata. "Someone gave you flowers! That's so cute. Who are they from?"

It was just too bad Naruto chose exactly that moment to come back with the food. With an almost evil grin, Naruto put the three bowls down onto the table.

"He doesn't know who they're from," Naruto said slyly.

"Naruto!" Neji was ready to strangle Naruto if the boy didn't shut up very soon. But he was interrupted by a giggle.

He slowly turned to his left and saw Hinata was looking at him with a blush. Neji felt like dying of embarrassment.

But before Neji had a chance to say anything, Ten-Ten was hanging onto his arm and grinning at him.

Lee, who was now catching up with the situation, quickly turned to Naruto with a questioning look.

Naruto, realizing Neji would not be answering the question, said with a grin: "Neji has a secret admirer."

Immediately Neji was engulfed in a big team-hug by a squealing girl and green-clad boy yelling about love.

"That's wonderful, Neji! Someone loves you, that's so sweet!"

"My youthful friend, you shall experience the beginnings of spring as you accept the feelings of love that are bestowed upon you!"

Neji could do nothing but endure the long lasting hug and just accept the headache that he was now coming down with.

* * *

"So that's who the flowers were from," another female voice spoke up and Neji cringed.

'No, not another one,' he thought as he now desperately tried to break free from the grasp of his friends.

'Shit, now that Ino knows the entire village is bound to know in less than two hours,' Neji thought.

"I think he's choking," a bored voice said.

Ten-Ten and Lee backed off almost immediately and worriedly stared at Neji's reddened face.

Neji looked at Ino, because that's where the voice came from. Chouji and Shikamaru, her teammates, were standing next to her.

'That bored voice, it must've been Shikamaru,' Neji thought as he caught Shikamaru's eye.

Neji silently cursed himself for blushing because it was embarrassing for people to see him like that. But it would be rude if he didn't thank Shikamaru for saving him so just walking out of Ichiraku's wasn't an option.

But before he could say anything, Ino turned to Shikamaru and asked: "Isn't it cute that Neji has a secret admirer?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at that. "Why would I care?"

"Ah, but Shikamaru!"

"Che, troublesome woman," Shikamaru said and with a small wave slouched away, totally ignoring Ino and anything Neji was about to say.

Neji looked at Shikamaru's back as he walked away, somewhat baffled. 'He didn't even give me a chance to thank him.'

"His mom got on his case for being lazy today. He's in a bad mood," Ino explained.

Neji simply shrugged and looked at her. "Whatever. I don't know him that well."

Ino nodded. But suddenly she broke into a grin and patted Neji on the shoulder. "Welcome to the world of love, Neji. If you can ever need anything you can ask me."

"Not unless I want the whole village to know," Neji remarked and Ino laughed. Neji rolled his eyes and couldn't help but think: 'Apparently she knows herself very well.'

* * *

"Well, aren't you good with the girls today?"

Neji turned around to see Kiba standing there. With a slight frown, he wondered why everyone seemed to come by Ichiraku's today.

"Back off Inuzaka," Neji threatened. He really didn't want Kiba of all people to know his business.

"Heh, sorry can't do that," Kiba said and with a smirk pointed to Naruto. "I got invited."

Shocked at hearing those words, Neji turned towards Naruto with a glare. "You didn't…" he growled softly and Naruto backed away, biting his lip.

"I uh… well you were in the hospital. And it was to be a surprise and -"

"Naruto, I hate surprises," Neji said.

Naruto laughed a bit uncomfortably and gestured towards Kiba. Now that Neji was actually paying attention, he could see Shino and Sakura standing behind Kiba.

Shino was as un-emotional as always and Sakura was fidgeting with the edge of her dress with a small smile.

Neji sighed as he turned back to Naruto. "You should really warn me next time," he said.

He really needed to go home. His headache had worsened and all Neji wanted to do was lay down in his bed and sleep.

"Neji, are you all right?" Hinata suddenly asked.

Neji turned to his cousin and shook his head. "I've got a serious headache." He turned back to Naruto and bowed lightly. "I'm sorry but next time could you tell me about the party? Then I can at least tell you I have a headache."

"Sorry," Naruto said and looked down to the ground.

"It's all right. You meant well," Neji replied and with a last look to everyone else he grabbed his flowers and left Ichiraku's to go home.

* * *

When Neji entered his room, he closed the door and leaned against it. He let out a breath. He was glad he was finally alone.

Naruto had meant well of course, but he was still grateful he didn't have to sit through a party right now.

Neji walked towards his bed and lay down. He closed his eyes and tried to get some much needed sleep. He hoped his headache would be gone when he woke up again.

* * *

Three hours later Neji woke up feeling somewhat refreshed. His headache had subdued a bit which he was grateful for.

He sat up and yawned. He looked around his room and froze as his eye fell upon a letter lying onto his dresser. Hiashi must've put it there when he was asleep. Hiashi often laid Neji's mail onto his dresser for him.

Neji gasped and leapt out of bed. If there was anyone else around he would've stood up calmly without showing any sign of curiosity or excitement.

But Neji was all alone so he could leap out of bed all he wanted without making a fool out of himself.

When he held the letter in his hands he took a deep breath.

Would his heart flutter like it did last time? Would the words written in the letter be as romantic as they were last time? And more importantly, would the letter be signed this time?

Neji closed his eyes tightly, took another breath and, with excitement buzzing through his body, opened the letter.

"_Dear Neji,_

_It made my day to see you were out of the hospital. To see you walking down the street again made me sigh in happiness. It truly is amazing how your porcelain skin looks bathed in sunlight.  
__I was thrilled when I noticed the flowers I sent you. You should find a nice place to put them because I hope they will remind you of me every time you look at them._

_When I look at you, I feel my heart flutter in my chest. Sometimes I find myself thinking about nothing else but you. When our eyes meet, I feel like I am drifting in the sky and you are the clouds that surround me. _

_I hope you understand how much of a joy it is for me to finally write these words to you. I have sat with a pen in my hand many times before this but never knew what words to write.  
__But when word about the fact you were in the hospital reached me I was unsettled. I simply had to let you know I worried about you._

_Do know that I do not want you to stop thinking of me. So when the flowers wilt, I will make sure you receive a new bouquet so that your thoughts will never stray from me just as my thoughts will never stray from you._

_With love."_

'So the person thinks of me all the time,' Neji thought with a small smile on his lips. Then he shot a look at the flowers. 'I wonder what kind of flowers I will get next time.'

He sat down onto his bed and with a small sigh let himself fall back against the blankets. The letter wasn't signed. 'Of course if it was signed it wouldn't be a secret admirer that sends me letter.'

He would try to find out who wrote the letter to him, he was sure of it. But he would do that tomorrow. Because right now all Neji wanted to do was lie on his bed and wallow in the feeling of being loved. 'And it actually feels pretty good.'

**TBC.**


	4. Chapter 4

See the first chapter for the disclaimer.  
Enjoy this chapter and please leave a review!

**Chapter 4**

"Is that another letter?"

Neji looked up from his place on the bed as he heard someone speak to him. He saw Hinata standing in the doorway with a smile on her face. It looked like a grin, but this was Hinata Hyuuga and she simply didn't grin. Or maybe Naruto had rubbed off on her.

Neji looked towards the letter he had gently placed onto his nightstand. He nodded and said: "Yes, it's the second."

Hinata smiled brightly at that. It seemed as if Neji was almost eager to receive a third letter.

"Neji?" Hinata stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.

Neji looked at her with a raised eyebrow and wondered what it was that Hinata wanted. "Yes?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could maybe read the letter?" She looked at him from under her bangs. A little afraid Neji would be mad by her request, she added quite quickly: "If that's all right with you of course."

Neji smiled at his cousin's obvious unease. Being brash and straightforward really didn't suit her all that much.

Neji looked at Hinata with a frown. Should he let her read the letter?

It wasn't as if the letter was telling a big secret but Neji still felt that it was information he should keep to himself. Also, to have Hinata read it would probably be just plain embarrassing.

"Hinata," Neji paused. Saying 'no' would seem so harsh, but what kind of explanation could he give? But he didn't have to think long on that because Hinata spoke again.

"Maybe I could help to figure out who your secret admirer is."

Neji looked at her and, with a sigh, gave in because he certainly would need some help with figuring out who this secret admirer was.

Hinata gratefully grabbed the letter from the nightstand and sat down next to Neji on the bed.

As she read the letter, a blush appeared on Hinata's cheeks. She giggled softly at some of the words and at the end of the letter let out a sigh.

"That's so sweet." She said with a huge blush.

Neji looked away from her, still embarrassed.

Hinata smiled at his unease and said: "She must be a real romantic."

"She?" Neji asked with a frown. "Do you know who it is?"

Hinata shook her head as she laid the letter bock onto the nightstand. "No but could a guy really write a letter like this?"

Neji frowned at hearing this. If he were honest, he would have to admit he hadn't even considered the possibility that his secret admirer could be male.

Not that Neji was a homophobe; the thought simply hadn't crossed his mind at all.

But that brought him back to wondering who the girl could be that was writing him these letters.

"You do have a decent sized group of fan-girls," Hinata offered with a small smile.

After just a moment of consideration, Neji shook his head. "None of those girls have the brain capacity to write such things."

He saw Hinata bite her lip to prevent herself from laughing. "Isn't that kind of cruel?"

Neji simply shrugged. He really didn't care about those girls.

"What about Ten-Ten?"

Neji raised an eyebrow and with a slight smirk said: "No way."

"Well, she did have that crush on you."

"She what?!" Neji looked at Hinata with widened eyes and his mouth hanging open in shock.

He couldn't believe Ten-Ten had had a crush on him. It seemed so unlike the girl to like him.

He tried to think of moments that would have given him any indication that the girl liked him. Unfortunately he couldn't think of any.

"Neji."

Neji looked at his cousin as she called him.

Hinata had a smile on her face when she said: "It was a few years ago. Nothing serious."

It calmed Neji's nerves down immediately.

Because having a secret admirer was nice. But having a teammate liking you could produce some nasty or uncomfortable situations.

"So," Neji said, just to make sure. "It is unlikely that it is Ten-Ten."

Hinata nodded and Neji suddenly chuckled. "You haven't got a clue on who it could be either, right?"

Hinata smiled apologetically as she shook her head. "No, not a clue."

* * *

"Doesn't Lee seem very quiet today?" Ten-Ten whispered to Neji as she continued to watch her other team-mate.

Lee was a happy person and no one had actually seen him act so silent before.

And his team-mates weren't really all that worried about him. They just wanted to know what would make a person like Lee, who usually seemed deterred by nothing, act weird.

Neji raised an eyebrow at Ten-Ten's question.

He shot a fast look towards Lee and sighed. "Yes, he's not his usual self," he had to admit.

Lee was sitting on a rock, staring off in the distance. It was very unlike Lee to sit around and staring with clouded eyes and a serious expression was plain scary.

It suddenly hit Neji.

Naruto had had that same stupid smile on his face after he had asked Hinata out.

Neji tapped Ten-Ten on the shoulder and the girl turned towards him with a questioning look.

"What? I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with Lee."

"He's in love," Neji deadpanned.

"Right, as if. Don't try to joke around Neji; you don't have a sense of humour."

Neji raised an eyebrow at the rude comment of his teammate. Ten-Ten was a bit too straight-forward to Neji's liking sometimes.

And what was with all those people who thought he couldn't crack a joke? He was sure he could be funny if he actually tried.

But, he noticed, he was wandering from his point. He shot a sideward look at Ten-Ten and saw that she was smirking at him.

Neji just rolled his eyes. "Hmph, whatever."

Ten-Ten giggled at his somewhat blunt come-back. But all of a sudden her eyes widened and she gasped. "Oh my gosh, what time is it?" She asked as she turned to Neji.

Neji raised an eyebrow, looked up to the sky and with a frown answered: "Three o'clock perhaps?"

"Three!" Ten-Ten yelled and jumped up. "I've got to go, I have a date!"

"With?" Neji asked with humour. He was only mildly interested in who Ten-Ten dated but couldn't help but humour her. Though he did want to sigh with relief; At least Ten-Ten didn't like him, if she ever had.

"Some guy, forgot his name. And before you ask, he isn't a Shinobi so you don't know him. Bye!" she said in a rush and ran away quickly.

Neji smirked. He hoped for Ten-Ten she wouldn't trip over something on her way to her date.

The moment Ten-Ten had left his sight Neji turned to look at his other teammate.

Said teammate was currently still sitting on the rock and hadn't even blinked when Ten-Ten had rushed off.

Neji frowned. This wasn't Lee's normal kind of behaviour. Lee was a happy always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life kind of person.

But on the other side, Neji wasn't the kind of person to show he was actually worried for or about someone.

But Lee was his teammate and friend. And if it was one thing that Neji had learned throughout the years, it was that you didn't ditch your friends.

Neji sighed as he slowly made his way towards Lee. When he stood next to the black-haired young man, he simply stood still for a few moments.

"Neji?" he suddenly heard Lee call him and he looked down.

Lee was looking at him with a slight frown. But after a second he just looked away and muttered: "Never mind."

"Lee, something is wrong?" Neji said, keeping his eye on his friend.

Lee sighed, his shoulders looked bend as if a heavy weight was resting upon them. He looked up at Neji and smiled sadly. "I don't feel like talking."

Neji frowned again. There wasn't a thing he could say now that would comfort Lee enough to talk about what he was feeling bad about.

"You know where to find me," was all Neji said.

Lee looked up at him with a grateful smile and went back to staring off in the distance.

Neji rolled his eyes and walked away.

* * *

Neji wanted to roll his eyes in annoyance as he saw Hanabi walking towards him, a slight skip in her step.

"Hello Neji," she said with a big smile when she stood in front of him.

"Hanabi," Neji greeted her with a slight bow. He looked at his cousin with a frown. Why was she studying him with that glint in her eyes?

"Neji, why don't you look in love?" she suddenly asked and Neji looked shocked for a second.

'What the hell is she talking about?' Neji thought. Where would Hanabi have gotten the idea he was in love anyway?

Meanwhile, Hanabi was looking up at him with questioning eyes. She looked very excited and probably couldn't wait to run to her sister.

But before the entire compound was thinking things about Neji that certainly weren't true, he had to burst his cousin's bubble.

"Hanabi, where did you get the idea that I am actually in love?" he asked her with a frown.

"Because there's a letter hanging on your bedroom door," she said, pointing towards the direction of Neji's room. "And it says: 'to my dearest Neji'." she continued with a bright smile.

Neji gasped softly at this new information and flushed. He had another letter! He was suddenly very excited to enter the sanctuary that was his room.

"I am not in love, Hanabi," he said and with a slight bow rushed towards his room.

He could hear Hanabi giggle at his flustered state and sighed. Hinata would certainly know about this little incident within the hour.

* * *

Neji was staring, quite shocked, at the door of his bedroom.

A note, which did truly have the words "to my dearest Neji" written upon it, was pinned onto the wooden door with a kunai.

'Well,' he thought as the shock wore off a little, 'my secret admirer is certainly a Shinobi.'

Because who else could sneak into the Hyuuga compound and pin a note to Neji's door?

But Neji didn't ponder on who his secret admirer could be for very long because his curiosity was eating at him.

He carefully freed the note from its hold and entered his room. He leaned against the door and opened the note. His heart started beating faster in a very un-Neji-like way as he began to read.

"_My dearest Neji,_

_For I hope you do not mind me calling you my dearest, because you are.  
__I long for the day when I can hold you in my arms and kiss your rosy cheeks. You are a treasure that should always be treated with the gentlest care in every way._

_I hope you do not have any feelings of hatred or anger towards me for sneaking into the Hyuuga compound.  
__I found the idea of leaving you a letter which I had brought you personally very romantic in a sense so I hope that will ease your mind._

_I wonder how your day has been. I most certainly hope it was not as hectic as yesterday.  
__You just recently left the hospital and even though they were minor injuries you still need to rest._

_So I will not keep you up any longer. I wish you all the best and hope I am on your mind._

_With love."_

Neji's heart fluttered, yes _fluttered_, as he let his arm drop to his side.

He took a deep breath and leaned his head against the door. 'Is it all right to feel like smiling and not wanting to stop?' he wondered.

He felt a warm tingle in his stomach and a tug at his heart as he thought of the letter.

'Oh my God,' he thought with a somewhat expression. 'I actually like being wooed.'

With wide eyes, he let himself slide down the door until he was sitting on the floor. He couldn't believe it.

He was a Hyuuga, he had his pride. _He _was supposed to be the person wooing a pretty lady who was high-born.

And here he was, starting to feel slightly attracted to a person he didn't even know.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Neji Hyuuga wasn't the kind of person to actually like someone more than friends. Or so he had thought.

But now, with the romantic letters that were almost like the 'sweet nothings' lovers whisper to each other, he was doubting that idea.

TBC.


	5. Chapter 5

See first chapter for disclaimer and warnings.  
Well, I've looked over my reviews and want to thank all of you who left one for me! It reminds me people are reading it and enjoying the fic the way I do and I am so grateful and glad people like it!  
Well, on to the next chapter…

**Chapter 5**

Neji sighed.

He glared at the small rock by his feet, kicked it away and sighed again.

He could feel that Hinata and Naruto were looking at him with questioning looks. He ignored them.

Neji was, apparently, in a very bad mood. One would wonder why the Hyuuga prodigy would be in a bad mood. Didn't he just simply train and everything would be fine?

Training though, seemed to be a bit of a difficulty these days.

Ten-Ten had fallen in love with the 'some guy' she had met a few days ago and Lee wasn't in any kind of state to actually train. He kept smiling sadly, saying he wasn't feeling well but didn't want to talk about it.

Neji didn't want to admit he was worried and thus simply didn't ask Lee questions anymore. Neji also knew this was very cowardly.

But this also put Neji in a corner. He didn't have anything to keep him occupied. And right now, Neji wanted to keep himself from thinking very badly.

The past few days Neji hadn't been able to stop thinking about his secret admirer. He had spent hours trying to figure out who it could be and he still didn't know.

He had thought of all of the possible girls he could think off. In the end, Sakura and Ino were the only logical choices left behind.

The thought of being with either one of the girls made Neji shiver with horror.

This had put Neji off. He hadn't even considered the possibility of not liking his secret admirer.

He had simply read the letters, enjoyed them immensely and thought that whoever it was, he would like them.

Perhaps that had been quite shallow of him.

Now that he looked back on the past week it dawned upon him he had been quite un-Neji-like. He hadn't thought clearly or logically about the letters.

He had enjoyed the attention and the fact finally someone seemed to like him for _him _instead of the Hyuuga name.

'But,' he wondered, 'what will I do when it turns out I don't like my secret admirer?'

He let out a heavy sigh.

He could hear soft murmurs coming from Hinata and Naruto and he gave them a sideward look.

They would come and ask him how he was, no doubt about it. Neji stood up and dusted off his clothes.

He shot his cousin and her boyfriend one last look before walking away, thus avoiding any confrontation he might've had with them.

* * *

Neji was sitting quietly on a bench enjoying the sun that shone down onto his face.

It was now two hours after he had left the Hyuuga compound and he had cleared his mind.

After at least an hour of deliberating with himself, he had decided not to worry about the person behind the letters anymore.

He would simply see where it would take him.

Neji perked up as he heard soft footsteps nearing him. He looked to the right, where the sound was coming from and saw Sakura walking towards him.

He frowned.

She had a nervous smile on her lips and a slight blush on her cheeks. And what confused Neji most of all was that she wasn't simply passing him by, but actually walking towards him.

Neji studied her for a moment as she came closer. She seemed nervous, almost shy but yet at the same time tried to keep up the appearance of being quite confident. It wasn't really working.

He wondered what it could be that Sakura wanted from him. For a moment his thoughts strayed to the letters but he pushed it away. It couldn't possibly be that.

"Hello Sakura." Neji greeted the pink-haired girl as she stood in front of him.

Sakura shuffled a bit with her feet and with a smile said: "Hi Neji. How are you?"

Neji looked at her with a raised eyebrow and grunted.

Sakura leaned her head to the side and with a small pout asked: "Shall I cheer you up?"

Neji thought it quite amazing that her nervousness had disappeared all together now. Although he didn't actually know if he was supposed to like this new side the girl was showing him.

"Sakura, I don't think you need to go through the trouble." Neji said.

But it seemed as if Sakura wasn't listening to him. She leaned towards him, grabbed his arm and pulled him up from the bench.

"Come on, we'll have lunch." She said and started to pull him towards the direction of a small lunchroom.

Neji looked at her and saw that she was smiling happily. He rolled his eyes and decided perhaps it wasn't so bad being dragged to lunch by Sakura.

_If _she was his secret admirer, now was his chance to find out. And if she wasn't, well, gossip turned out to be very resourceful when one needed information in a ninja village.

Suddenly a thought crossed his mind. What if she actually _liked_ him a lot but wasn't his secret admirer? Neji, after only a few letters, felt some sort of attachment towards the person sending him the letters.

But if Sakura liked him it could be a problem. He could simply hope it wasn't going to be too bad and that she didn't throw random punches around anymore.

* * *

"Isn't this nice?" Sakura asked Neji with a smile.

Neji and Sakura were sitting at a window-seat in a small lunch-room. They had finished their lunch and so far things had been quite uneventful.

Sakura looked really happy and Neji was starting to feel slightly guilty.

Sakura was a nice girl. She had come a long way after Ino had convinced her Sasuke was just a nightmare better left forgotten.

But now that Neji was sitting in the lunchroom with her, he started to hope she wasn't his secret admirer.

Sakura would perhaps be a great friend if allowed the chance to be. But Neji didn't feel a bit attracted to the girl. There just wasn't any kind of spark.

"Neji?"

Neji looked up at Sakura and had the decency to blush. He had been so deep in thought that he had forgotten to answer.

"Neji, you don't look very interested." Sakura said bluntly.

Neji was kind of shocked for a second. He had known Sakura to be an outspoken person but hadn't expected anything of this kind.

He bowed his head for a moment and looked at her after that. "I'm sorry."

Sakura looked down for a moment. Neji could see she bit her lip and felt guilty.

He should've told her he wasn't interested from the beginning. Secret admirer or not.

But after a few moments Sakura looked up. She looked a bit sad, somewhat rejected but smiled at him anyway.

"It's fine." She said with a shrug. "I'd never thought I would even stand a chance to get you out to eat with me so this is quite the victory."

She took a breath and laughed. "Maybe I should just give up on guys. Ino's still available. And not to be rude to you, Neji, but you're not my perfect partner either so don't feel guilty. I was just trying something…" She paused and frowned, thinking of the right word to say.

"Different," Neji finished.

Sakura giggled and said: "Yes, that's it. How did you know?"

"Wild guess," Neji answered with a smirk.

'Wait,' He thought. 'She's giving up. That means she's probably not my secret admirer.' Neji sighed with relief.

"So, Neji," Sakura asked him and leaned her head onto her hands. "Now that we established that us in any romantic way is not ever going to happen… Why don't you tell me something about that secret admirer of yours?"

* * *

The next morning Neji was very glad he didn't wake up with a headache.

Sakura had kept him occupied almost the entire afternoon. She had asked thousands of questions concerning his secret admirer and the letters he had received.

She had squealed, blushed and everything else a girl would do in such a situation.

Neji would kill any person that came to know this bit of information, but he had actually enjoyed it.

Sakura, if you looked past the gossiping, was a funny and caring girl.

But four hours of random chatting, laughter and gossiping was enough for probably any man.

Neji yawned and started as he heard a knock on his bedroom-door. "Yes, I'm up," he called and sat up in his bed.

The door opened slowly to reveal his uncle. Neji nodded his head and stifled a yawn. "Good morning, Uncle."

"Good morning, Neji," Hiashi said. "When I went out for my walk this morning I found something that perked my curiosity."

Neji frowned. "What is it that you found?" He asked.

"This," Hiashi said and held up a white envelope.

Neji gasped softly at seeing the envelope and felt his heart flutter. This could only mean he had another letter from his secret admirer.

"I see you are excited to receive this letter." Hiashi said with a smug smile as he saw his nephew's expression. "I know you have received a letter before. But that letter didn't say: 'to my dearest Neji.'"

Neji blushed and looked down. He didn't know if his uncle was angry with him, but he was here to give him a message.

"Neji," Hiashi started, trying to get Neji's attention which he received. "I wish you all the best, you know that."

Neji nodded.

"But in this house, nothing is secret. The word you have a secret admirer who is trying to woo you through letters has reached the Elders."

Neji almost felt like crying. He could already guess what the decision would be. He would never find out who his secret admirer was because he wasn't allowed to have one.

"Don't always think the worst, Neji," Hiashi said and sat down onto Neji's bed. "They consent with you having a secret admirer. But they do ask you to introduce this person to them when you find out who it is. And don't look shocked, you are not the only person in this house curious to whom it is." Hiashi finished with a smile.

Neji looked at his uncle with astonishment. He couldn't believe the Elders had actually consented.

He didn't know if he loved his secret admirer but the approval of the Elders would most certainly help Neji to ease his mind if he were to make a decision.

* * *

Half an hour later Neji was finally alone. Hiashi had insisted they had a father-son talk and it wasn't like Neji to refuse.

During the talk, Neji's curiosity grew and now he was dying to read the letter. He was so busy opening the envelope that he totally missed the butterflies in his stomach as he thought of his secret admirer.

"_My dearest Neji,_

_I am upset.  
__Word has reached me about your date with Sakura. I will not lie to you so I will not say I hope that you had a good time.  
__Because I silently pray that the date was horrible._

_I can't explain what pain I felt when I realized that it was true that you went out for lunch with her.  
__You are the sunbeam that brightens my day, so don't think I do not wish you happiness. But if you should find happiness with someone, I certainly hope that it is with me.  
__I love you and have done so for a very long time. I don't even remember when my thoughts on you changed into something deeper.  
__I can say for certain that an eternity with you would be Heaven to me._

_Have I ever told you that I live in fear whenever you go on a mission? Fear that I might loose you and that you will never have known my love for you.  
__That is why I am sending you these letters. To let you know that there is someone that loves you more than anything in the world.  
__I can only hope that someday you will love me in return._

_I hope that Sakura hasn't taken what I am desperately trying to obtain. Your affection.  
__Maybe I should try harder to win your heart. I will most certainly try._

_Until next time,  
__Love."_

Neji let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding back.

When he had read the words 'I am upset' he felt guilty, again.

But now that he had read the entire letter, he couldn't help but sigh with a somewhat dreamy smile on his face.

Perhaps it was strange to fall in love with the unknown but Neji found that he really didn't care all that much. Because if he were to fall in love with his secret admirer, whoever it would be, at least his love would be returned.

Half an hour later Hanabi found Neji in his bedroom. He was still sitting in his bed with the letter in his hand.

Hanabi squealed, said that now Neji _did_ look in love and within less than fifteen minutes the entire Hyuuga compound knew that Neji had received another letter.

**TBC.**


	6. Chapter 6

Warnings and disclaimer are still in the first chapter.  
Well, that was a very fast update, wasn't it? It could be a while until my next one because I've got mid-terms next week and I'm getting very anxious right now…  
But I do hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 6**

"_You are cordially invited to Naruto Uzumaki's first guy's-only poker night!  
__You will come; staying away is NOT an option. I expect you to be at my apartment tonight at 8."_

Neji's hands twitched as he read the note.

Hinata, who was standing next to Neji, burst out in giggles.

Meanwhile, Hanabi was trying to push past Neji and Hinata in a failing attempt to find out what was in the note.

Neji was very irritated.

Hinata, noticing her cousin's irritation, whisked her sister away. "Well, Naruto does have a way with words," she said with a laugh.

"Indeed. If there had ever been a doubt if Naruto was perhaps my secret admirer… Well, that problem would've been helped out of the world by this."

Hinata laughed at Neji's statement.

"True. He isn't very subtle." She admitted. "So, are you going tonight?"

Neji sighed and after that pointed at the note again. "It doesn't seem like he's giving me that much of a choice."

* * *

"Neji?"

"Yes, Hanabi?"

"Are you going to wear something special tonight?"

"No, why would I do that?"

Neji turned around from his spot by the small bookcase he had in his bedroom.

Hanabi was lying on her stomach on his bed swinging her feet in the air.

Hanabi grinned impishly and said: "Because your secret admirer might come."

"Don't be silly. Hinata and I already established that my secret admirer is most certainly female."

"But haven't you run out of girls now that Sakura isn't it?"

Neji looked at his youngest cousin with a frown. Normally Hanabi didn't ask so much about Neji's personal life. Neji wondered if she wanted something from him.

"We're probably just overlooking something."

"Hmph, whatever." Hanabi pouted as she turned her head away from Neji. But after a second Hanabi grinned evilly and said: "Can I choose your clothes for tonight?"

Neji didn't even think. He simply raised an eyebrow and with a somewhat 'what the fuck' look on his face said: "No."

Hanabi pouted as she would have liked to use Neji as her personal doll. "But Neji…"  
"No."

"But no one is going to notice anyway! It is just an evening with the guys and you don't need to impress anyone. Please Neji, just this once!" Hanabi pleaded with a smile.

Neji sighed. Hanabi was trying to look very cute and innocent, and to his own annoyance, it was actually working. He hated when she did this because he knew that every time, even if he did not want to, he would give in.

Neji frowned and decided to avoid further wailing and other things girls Hanabi's age would do when trying to get their way. So with another sigh, he looked at his cousin and nodded his head.

"Don't make me look ridiculous, I still have a reputation."  
"Hm~m." Hanabi bit her lip in excitement and tried not to make a victory dance.

"And don't you dare to touch my hair."

"Ah, but that kind of goes with the whole dressing thing."

"No. I will not ever walk around with braids in my hair. You were lucky I was sick and Uncle forbade me to take my revenge on you."

* * *

Neji was prepared for almost everything when he turned to face the mirror. He was ready to inspect the clothes that Hanabi had picked for him.

It had taken quite some time before she had found a set of clothes shoved into a dark corner of Neji's closet that she approved of.

After she had laid the clothes onto the bed and had studied them for a few minutes she had run off, only to return with Hinata in tow.

Hinata had studied the clothes and with a smile nodded her approval. After that Hanabi had pushed him, together with the clothes, into his private bathroom and closed the door.

"Get dressed, I can't wait to see you in it!" She had yelled.

Neji had reluctantly put on the clothes. The pants were a bit too tight for his liking. He wasn't used to wearing anything that fit nicely around his ass and accented his legs.

But when he put on the white turtle-neck he was pleasantly surprised. It fit quite well and he wondered how it would look.

When he opened the door he saw that both Hinata and Hanabi had sat down onto his bed. They both looked up when he entered the room. Hanabi gasped softly and Hinata looked a bit shocked.

"You look hot! Never thought you'd look this good," Hanabi cried out as she walked closer to him.

She circled around him and made an approving sound. "I did a good job," she complimented herself and turned towards her sister. "I did, didn't I?"

"Yes." Hinata said. She blushed as she looked up to Neji. "You do look g-good."

Neji felt flustered at the attention he was receiving. He wasn't used to being told he looked good.

"Come on, look at yourself instead of just standing there!" Hanabi gave him a soft push towards the mirror.

Neji raised an eyebrow at his appearance. The pants, a pair of black jeans to be correct, looked as tight as they felt. But it didn't look bad. It actually looked way better than his normal attire.

His eyes wandered upwards to his white turtle-neck. The color looked nice and mixed pretty well with his long dark-brown hair.

He looked at his hair, falling elegantly over his back and shoulders much like a waterfall. It looked better when it wasn't confined in his usual hairstyle.

With a slight smirk Neji looked at his whole appearance. 'Well, I do look fine.' He thought and stroked his hair back over his shoulder.

"You _love _it, don't you?" Hanabi was standing next to Neji, poking him in his side with a very evil and self-satisfied grin on her face.

Neji startled a bit and caught Hanabi's eye through her image in the mirror. "It's nice." He said flatly.

"From your expression I can see you love it." Hanabi teased him.

"You did smirk when you gave yourself an once-over." Hinata pointed out on a soft tone.

Neji simply let out a laugh. "Well, with all of your compliments my egoism is supposed to be very big."

"Then we will refrain from complimenting you ever again." Hanabi said and pulled up her nose. "Well, you should go. You've admired yourself for such a long time it's almost half past seven already. Go make them drool." Hanabi said and gave him a wink before walking out of the room.

Neji and Hinata were left staring after the girl.

"We weren't like that when we hit puberty, right?" Neji asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hinata giggled and answered: "No. I was a shy, stuttering girl and you were a bastard with a stick up your ass. Hanabi was bound to be the normal one."

* * *

Neji felt slightly uncomfortable as he walked towards Naruto's house in a small pace. Just slightly.

It was probably because he wasn't used to wearing clothes like this. And because he had no idea how everyone was going to react. He certainly hoped they wouldn't give him the same reactions Hanabi had given him. If that were to be the case, he would never in his existence let his younger cousin come near him with any set of clothes.

Although, if your good looks were appreciated it was supposed to be nice, right? 'Not when it is a perverted teacher. Because they will be present too tonight.' Neji thought and scowled.

He decided right then and there reactions like Hanabi's would not be appreciated if coming from someone twice his age.

Before he knew it Neji had arrived at Naruto's front door. He took a deep breath before knocking softly.

Stumbling could be heard coming from inside and Neji had the suspicion that Naruto was tripping over something.

After a moment, Naruto opened the door to a smirking Neji.

The moment Naruto's eyes fell upon Neji's clothing, they widened. Naruto stood on the doorstep of his front door, staring at Neji. Not in the way some other people had done while Neji made his way to Naruto's but just in simple amazement that Neji Hyuuga would actually wear jeans.

When Neji leaned his head to the side and said: "I could always go home if I'm not welcome to come inside."

Almost immediately Naruto was pulled out of his daze and stepped aside to let Neji enter his house. He frowned and in a curious tone asked: "What on earth happened to you?"

"Hanabi did." Neji answered dryly. "She found it funny to use me as a life sized doll and dress me up. This is the result." He said, stretching his arms to give Naruto a look.

Naruto grinned and with a sly edge to his tone said: "Well maybe you should let her do that more often. I swear if I weren't straight and very much in love with Hinata I'd be drooling right now."

Neji smirked and looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow. "Should I feel honored now?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "That would probably need a miracle." He said, followed by a huff.

When Neji entered Naruto's small living room, all talk and murmurs quieted down. The occupants of the room all looked up with surprise.

Not many people were present. Kiba, Iruka and Kakashi were the only ones. But judging from the looks on their faces, they were quite surprised.

"Never would've thought _that _was underneath those other clothes of yours."

To Neji's surprise, Kakashi was the first to speak. Not to Neji's surprise was that after the words had left Kakashi's mouth, Iruka hit him over the head, hissing: "Shut up."

Naruto, who was standing in the doorway next to Neji, let out a laugh. "I'd watch it if I were you, Kakashi. I'm sure Iruka is very serious." After having said that, he waggled his eyebrows with a grin.

Kiba laughed at Naruto's statement and sent Neji a leering look.

Kiba's eyes trailed down Neji's form and up again. He smirked at the dark-haired man as he caught his eyes. "That's one Hell of a sexy look on you."

After a moment of fast thinking and getting over some internal shock of being called sexy, Neji just smirked, trying to look smug. "Thank you."

He slowly walked towards an available chair, which was the one next to Kiba, and sat down gracefully.

Neji looked around and turned to Kiba with a frown. "Where's that dog of yours?"

Kiba turned to Neji and with a shrug said: "Akamaru had fleas." But after he said it, a smirk appeared on his lips. "And I certainly wanted to prevent _anyone_ from getting fleas too." He said, obviously stressing the 'anyone' part of the sentence.

Neji looked at Kiba quite surprised. Was Kiba actually flirting with him? Neji felt a sudden boost of confidence at that thought.

Throwing caution in the wind he smirked and said on a tone that sounded strange to his own ears: "That would be _very _unfortunate indeed."

Kiba let out a laugh and smirked.

But their "moment" was interrupted when Naruto squatted down in front of them. He looked at Kiba with a frown and then turned his gaze to Neji.

Neji suddenly felt very uncomfortable having Naruto look at him like that.

But after a few seconds Naruto grinned and said: "Well, you'll both have a fantastic evening. Just take it easy on the alcohol, right Neji?" And with an evil grin continued, "We all know you don't handle alcohol very well."

"Naruto!" Neji hissed with a flush of embarrassment on his cheeks.

Neji knew he didn't handle his alcohol very well. He had gotten drunk once on just a few drinks as Naruto always proclaimed but having him point it out so loudly in front of other people was embarrassing.

"Don't worry." Kiba said with a sly grin. "I'll make sure he doesn't get drunk."

* * *

Two hours later the room was engulfed in a relaxing buzz. Alcohol was flowing freely as was the money.

Because one couldn't play a poker game without betting money, right? That was Naruto's argument anyway.

Neji himself was out of the game. He was a great tactician but a simple game such as poker wasn't his thing. He had lost with a pair of Queens. A pair of which he had been quite proud.

He hadn't expected to loose to Shino. But he could have seen it coming of course. Shino hadn't touched a drop of alcohol yet, unlike everyone else. Perhaps the fact that his mind was clear made him think more tactical than anyone else in the room.

The moment Neji had lost Naruto had pushed him off of his chair with a grin. "Now it's my turn!" He had proclaimed.

Neji was irritated but that changed when Kiba asked him on a husky tone if he wanted to get something to drink.

After he had gotten Kiba and himself a beer he had settled next to Kiba's chair, leaning heavily onto said boys shoulder.

Kiba didn't seem to mind though as he grinned very widely in conquer as he felt Neji's arm resting on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Neji took his time to look around the room.

Iruka was sitting on Kakashi's lap, staring intently at the cards in his hand. He was on the verge of winning a lot of money and Neji smirked. From the looks of it, or perhaps the flush that adorned Kakashi's face instead of Iruka's, Iruka held his alcohol way better than his lover.

Chouji had decided the moment he walked into the room he would just give Shikamaru some money and pair up with him. So far, Chouji had eaten lots and lots of chips and Shikamaru hadn't lost a penny, but hadn't gained a lot either. All the money he did gain, he gave to Chouji to put away. The perfect strategy. Even if he lost all his money, he'd still have the profit he'd made throughout the game.

Lee was sitting in his chair, grinning like a madman. Alcohol always made Lee hyperactive, even more so than usual. So a few glasses of beer had gotten him out of his depressed mood. He wasn't telling anyone, but Neji was relieved his friend seemed a bit like himself now.

The strange thing about it all? All the youngsters were almost completely sober, with the exception of Neji.

What about the adults you would wonder? Asuma had come in proclaiming his poker skills sucked so he wasn't playing. He had simply sat down in a chair, grabbed a bottle of some sort of strong liquor and watched the game.

He was by now pretty drunk and singing songs together with Gai. Gai had only had a few drinks but wasn't acting very differently than he normally did.

Neji had to admit he found it funny to see Asuma like that, though he did feel bad for Kurenai when he would be arriving home.

Neji snickered at that and could feel Kiba looking strangely at him. He turned towards the boy and grinned. "Nothing." He whispered.

Kiba just winked and turned back to his game.

Neji bit his lip and decided that tonight wasn't so bad. The game was entertaining to watch and flirting with Kiba was a lot of fun.

Kiba was a lot of fun actually. Neji certainly hadn't expected that. Kiba wasn't a total bastard. Instead he was a nice guy who sometimes worried about his teammates and had a good sense of humor.

Suddenly Neji was roughly pulled from his musing as Naruto laughed almost hysterically.

Naruto yelled "all-in" on a very loud voice and some people gasped.

Neji looked at the table with a raised eyebrow, to Naruto and then to Shino who seemed to be the only one left in the game.

Shine just shrugged and put the amount of money on the table he needed.

Everyone's attention was focused on Naruto and the deck of cards in the middle of the table.

But suddenly Neji's attention was pulled away from the table roughly; he felt a hand on his ass.

He sent a nervous glare to his right and knew when he saw Kiba's seemingly innocent smile that he was right. Now all Neji could think was: 'What the Hell is Kiba's hand doing on my ass?'

**TBC.**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer and warnings, see first chapter.  
I hope you are all going to enjoy this chapter as much as I did. I've got a calm week coming up so I am going to try to write the next chapter pretty quick.  
But first, enjoy this one and please tell me what you thought of it!

**Chapter 7**

Neji's mind was somewhat fuzzy from the alcohol which made him react slower than he normally would.

He frowned for a moment trying to think of something to say or do. The first thing to do that came to his mind was…

Neji's thoughts were interrupted by a loud sound.

Everyone in the room looked up, somewhat shocked, as a loud 'thump' sounded from the other side of the room. Apparently, a large book had decided to drop of a shelf; a shelf where it had been securely sitting not moments earlier.

Neji frowned. Naruto owned large books with lots of pages? 'Whoa, random.' Neji thought.

He shook his head in an attempt to clear it. Random thoughts about silly things didn't occur a lot in Neji Hyuuga's mind.

After Neji blinked a few times, he realized that because of the commotion Kiba had taken his hand back to himself. 'Where it belongs.' Neji thought.

Because flirting innocently with Kiba was fun. Getting praises for the way he looked was nice. But anything beyond that simply turned him off.

With a look at Kiba, Neji took this as his opportunity to get himself a decent distance from Kiba.

But the moment Neji stepped away, Kiba looked up. He frowned at Neji as if expecting Neji to step towards him again.

But Neji, at seeing Kiba's look, simply shrugged and whispered: "That's enough."

Kiba scoffed at hearing that and turned his head away from Neji, mumbling softly to himself.

Neji simply turned back to the table.

Naruto jumped up in panic to check of the book, apparently a picture album, was fine.

When someone asked what was so special about it, Naruto smiled happily an exclaimed: "It are pictures of my family."

After that everyone wanted to see the album. It was quite cute how Naruto would blush as someone found a picture of himself in the book. It didn't take long before everyone was somewhat baffled and honored to have their picture in Naruto's "family album".

So, after a short while the picture album had been placed back onto the shelf and people were turning back to their game.

Half an hour later Neji was bored and decided to go home.

Kiba protested for a moment when he left, even followed him into the small, claustrophobic hallway of Naruto's apartment.

He demanded to know what Neji's actions had meant.

Neji had taken a deep breath and in a calm voice told Kiba that he wasn't interested in anything more than some innocent flirting.

Kiba had sighed, muttered something about "damned romantic letters" and stomped back into the living room.

Neji had frowned but after a second, shrugged it away. He went home, still feeling fuzzy and the moment he lay down on his bed, he fell asleep.

* * *

Neji hated alcohol and he would never drink it again.

Until the next occasion arose in which he would drink it, just like he always did.

Neji groaned and closed his eyes at the bright light that shone into his room through the small gap between his curtains. He had that slightly noxious feeling that told him he had had a bit too much to drink last night.

He hadn't been drunk, but had had enough to give him a decent head-ache and a musty feeling. He felt the strong urge to simply lie in his bed all day.

But he was a Hyuuga, and unfortunately a Hyuuga wasn't ever allowed a day in the warmth of his bed, unless ill.

And having a hangover could be considered an illness. 'The illness of stupidity' Hiashi would say. And that, unfortunately, was cured with a shower and a hearty breakfast followed by a good training-session.

Neji, grumbling at his pitiful state, pushed himself into a sitting position. The blankets fell down into his lap and he stretched his arms with yawn.

With a sigh he got out of his bed. He shivered slightly as his feet touched the cold wooden floor.

He slowly made his way to his en-suite bathroom. Perhaps a good splash of water would wake him up.

* * *

Roughly half an hour later Neji emerged from the bathroom again. He felt awake and refreshed.

Walking to his dresser he looked around his room. It was quite a mess.

The clothes he had worn last night lay sprawled over the floor, his bed was unmade and paper was even cluttering his pillow. That was not a…

Paper was cluttering his pillow? Neji frowned. That hadn't been there before he took his shower.

A bit cautious he walked to his bed.

Was it another letter from his admirer? And if it was, what would it say?

Neji sat down and took the letter in his hands. It was strange; he found that he couldn't seem to get that stupid smile off of his face. That, together with that flutter in his chest, was quite irritating.

Of course, Neji wasn't stupid. He knew what it meant, but simply didn't want to admit it.

With a shiver of curiosity Neji looked at the piece of paper in his hands.

Honestly, how could he get so excited about a simple piece of paper?

Because it was not the paper he was excited about.

It was the letters, the words written on the paper. The fact someone loved him with such devotion that they were prepared to bare their soul for Neji.

That love, courage and devotion together with a curiosity that was killing him made Neji excited and happy about ever letter he got.

"_My dearest Neji,_

_I hope you are not suffering a headache due to an overdose of alcohol.  
__It was nice though to have an evening with just the guys. Naruto should organize something like that more often in my opinion.  
__It will give me another chance to admire your beauty."_

Neji, slightly shocked at this bit of information, lowered the letter without reading the rest of it.

'It's not Ino!' Was the first thought that came to Neji's mind.

Because the girl being his secret admirer had crossed his mind a few times, but the girl hadn't been there last night.

Nor had any of the other girls. Neji froze and took a deep breath. So his secret admirer was a man?

It was pretty stupid of him and Hinata to have ruled out every male in the universe anyway. This only proved their decision was wrong.

But would something change for Neji himself now that he knew that his secret admirer was male? Because if he did indeed love that man, it meant he was gay.

Neji shook his head. He would think about that later. Now, all he wanted to know was what was in the rest of the letter.

"_But it seems__ that I was not the only one to admire your beauty last night. You were standing awfully close to Kiba, and it hurt me greatly to see your smile directed at anyone but me.__I can only hope your escapade with Kiba last night was one of folly and jest.  
__I am glad though, because my words about your beauty and intelligence are meant forever, while you only graced Kiba with your presence less than a short night.  
__I can only hope your attention and gentleness will be directed towards me in the future. I would love to see your beautiful and gentle eyes directed at me, and only me. My heart would stop beating if I could taste your lips just once. _

_But as intelligent as you are, and with your wits, you probably noticed I'm not of the gender everyone seems __to have thought I was.  
__Yes, I could pretend to be someone who I certainly am not for your sake. My heart and soul would bleed, but I could do this only for you. _

_Yet I realize, you would still not love me as I am, nor would you accept me as an honorable man because I would be deceiving everyone, including myself. To be wandering forever without knowing your acceptance of me would give me great tears of sadness, a hollow feeling as deep as the deepest pit in the mountains. Even though there is still a sliver of hope, the uncertain emotions within me force me to undertake some definitive movement. _

_I have sought a sign so you could show me of your feelings. A sign a person could notice, but no one would know the meaning of but me.  
__If you accept the feelings I bestow upon you, fully knowing my gender, please wear this necklace enclosed in the envelope.  
__I can ensure you I took the time to find you a present worth your beauty, strength, and masculinity._

_It would brighten my life the moment I see you wearing the necklace. You would give me a happier mood than anyone else ever could. I hope today will fare you well. Until next time._

_With love." _

Neji was… speechless. He was awed by the letter, the words and the emotion put into it.

He took a deep breath and let himself fall back onto his bed. For a few moments, all he did was stare dumbly at the ceiling.

The flutter in his chest was still there and he was overwhelmed by the warm feeling that spread throughout his body.

Neji didn't give himself a moment to enjoy that feeling a lot though. He had all time to do that after he got his thoughts straight.

Because he was in love. He was in love with someone he didn't know. He was in love with someone he didn't know who was male. So that meant Neji Hyuuga was gay because he was in love with someone he didn't know who was male.

Neji actually didn't know how to react to that bit of information. Should he be disgusted with himself?

Well, why would he be? Being gay wasn't a bad thing; it just wasn't talked about openly.

But, Neji decided, he didn't need to look at others and their opinions to make up his mind. All that he needed to worry about was himself.

So, would he mind being together with another male?

Well, there wouldn't be any gossiping during dates. He wouldn't have to go through the trouble of raising children. They'd have equal strength, well perhaps.

But what when they were to get… How would that...oh right. Maybe they would have to talk about that when the time was right.

Neji swallowed with a slight blush evident on his cheeks. He could forget about all the sex-talks he had had when he was younger if he was going to be together with a man. Things would be different if it were a man instead of a woman.

A men's kiss, how would it feel? Would his lips be soft and inviting, or were his lips like Neji's, warm and strong?

And would his back be strong and would he have a six pack, or would he be plump? Neji certainly didn't know whether he would be attracted to that or not. Hmm… he didn't think he would mind a bit fat, but muscles were always nice to see, and to feel.

And what exactly would attract Neji's eyes to a man's body? A nice tan, a nice firm behind, perhaps long strong legs leading to…

'Oh my God,' Neji's eyes widened and he gasped. Was he really thinking this? Was he really getting excited by the thoughts of being sexually attracted to another male?

'It can't be.' Was the first thought to come to Neji's mind. But he couldn't ignore the somewhat bothersome yet erotic thoughts he had come up with just moments earlier.

If he was being honest with himself, he would admit he was actually glad his secret admirer was of the male gender.

Because how many times had he said he hated the gossip girls spread? How many girls were there that he had ever taken a liking to anyway?

Had he not always found it strange that he didn't seem to enjoy the peeks he and his companions-in-crime would steal at the girls bathing?

Neji took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He took a moment to compose himself but instead shivered with excitement.

He, Neji Hyuuga, was gay and didn't mind it that much. He was in love with someone he didn't know, but that someone seemed to adore and love him more than life itself. That someone who Neji wanted to meet so badly right now, that he almost forgot about the gift he had received.

Almost.

* * *

The necklace he held in his hand was beautiful. It wasn't anything too fancy or feminine.

His secret admirer had indeed chosen a nice gift. A silver chain was a simple design yet looked good on whoever wore it.

With a smile on his face Neji stood in front of the mirror. He watched himself intently as he put the necklace on.

He let it fall over his clothes so that whoever wished to see it could. He brought his hand up to touch the necklace. He studied it in the mirror and couldn't help but smile lovingly.

Because it was a nice gift, the nicest one he had ever received. Because this gift was not given to him as an obligation for a birthday. This gift was given to him because he was loved. And because even Neji deserved a chance to show the world, or at least that special person, that he loved in return.

But, Neji decided, simply wearing the chain wasn't enough anymore. He was almost ready to investigate and discover the identity of his secret admirer.

Neji had an idea that would not only tell the secret admirer that Neji was willing, but it would provide Neji with a way to tell his thoughts, emotions, and story to his secret admirer.

Neji was going to write a note back to his secret admirer.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer and warnings can be found in the first chapter, as always.  
Enjoy!

**Chapter 8**

Neji sighed, crumbled the piece of paper lying in front of him and threw it away over his shoulder.

Onto the pile of other crumbled papers that already rested next to the waste paper basket.

He let out a heavy sigh and put down the pen he was holding. He was trying to write a letter to his secret admirer and was apparently failing miserably.

Right now he was coming up with a lot of respect for a person that could even come up with the beginning of a letter.

He had tried everything; from_ 'My dearest Secret Admirer' _to '_My love'_ and all the other sappy things in between but nothing seemed to sound right. It was all way too mushy and so not Neji.

Neji bit his lip and leaned against the back of his chair. This was getting frustrating to say the least. If he couldn't write the beginning, how could he explain the other things he wanted to?

Now that he was thinking about it, what did he want to tell anyway?

Neji let out another frustrated sigh and buried his head in his hands. As he thought of what he wanted to say to his secret admirer he felt a blush come to his cheeks.

Of course, he had to go about things slowly. Writing a four-page letter and pouring out everything he was thinking about would be a bit too much. So he would take things one step at a time.

And suddenly it came to him. Neji broke out in a grin and quite enthusiastically grabbed his pen again. He poked out his tongue, thought about the words to put down for just a second, and then started to write.

"_Dear Mr. Unknown__,_

_I'm not quite sure where to start. There are a lot of thoughts and feelings that I would rather not discuss with anyone, whirling inside me right now. I don't know what I want to share with a mere stranger._

_I will start with telling you that I feel honored that someone would ever love me as much as you do. Thinking about who you could be is very exciting yet I am always a bit anxious.__I also want you to know that you did an excellent job in finding me a gift. I will wear it every day just like every morning I watch the flowers you gave me._

_I must admit that I do find myself caring about you. Although I am not quite sure how deep that feeling goes. I have neither seen nor spoken to you, yet I feel a warm tingle in my chest whenever I think of you, despite the fact that I don't know you at all._

_I look forward to every letter you send me and I am thrilled to work out my exact feelings regarding you. _

_With love,  
__Neji Hyuuga"_

Neji smiled proudly at the letter he wrote. It had taken him an hour and a half to produce this small letter and yet he felt very proud of himself.

He wasn't good at expressing his feelings. So writing this was quite the achievement for Neji.

His secret admirer was pouring his entire heart out; Neji could only try to do the same in return.

He re-read the letter again, but as he got to the end he frowned. There was something missing…

"_P.S. I don't think__ so but is there is a chance I could arrange a meeting with you in person?"_

Neji bit his lip. Did he really want that sentence in the letter? 'Of course I do! That's what I'd love to know most.'

Neji nodded at his own thoughts. It was why he was writing the letter anyway. Because he couldn't simply sit and let himself be wooed and not do anything about it.

Neji smiled in satisfaction at the letter. All he had to do now was make sure his secret admirer got it.

This, he concluded with a sigh, would be quite the quest to undertake.

* * *

"Neji?"

With a sigh, Neji looked up from his breakfast to stare his little cousin in the eye.

Hanabi was sitting at the other end of the table and was grinning impishly. It unnerved Neji a bit.

"Did you get the letter?"

Neji spluttered at the question. He looked at Hanabi with widened eyes and placed his chopsticks down onto the table. So that's how the letter had found its way to his pillow!

Hanabi giggled as Neji seemed to finally understand the situation. But what she didn't expect was the slight blush on Neji's cheeks accompanied with the question: "Do you know who it is?"

Hanabi squealed and clapped her hands together. "That's so cute!"

"Ugh, Hanabi…" Neji sighed and closed his eyes.

"But it is cute!" Hanabi insisted. "And it's also exciting, isn't it? Slowly falling in love with Prince Charming without knowing who he is. It's an adventure, a -"

"Hanabi," Neji interrupted his cousin with a frown. She was talking about things she wasn't supposed to know. So when Hanabi looked at him with a happy smile on her face, he asked: "How do you know it's a _Prince _Charming?"

"Uh, you know, because you said…" Hanabi stuttered a bit with a slight embarrassed expression.

"I only found out this morning," Neji deadpanned. He loved his cousin, he really did. But if she had read his letter secretly, she would suffer the consequences.

Meanwhile Hanabi looked like a deer caught in headlights. She had paled considerably and bit her lip. "I- I'm sorry!" she cried out.

She fidgeted with the ends of her long hair and with tears in her eyes started to apologize. "I was so curious! You always talk with Hinata about it and she wouldn't tell me anything! And then this morning I found a note that asked me to give you that letter." Hanabi trailed off softly but continued in a mutter: "What else was I supposed to do?"

Neji sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wanted to get mad, he really wanted to but when Hanabi bit her lips with tears filling her eyes Neji felt it was kind of unfair.

Of course she would get curious after a while. But that still wasn't any reason to read Neji's letters.

"You could have asked, Hanabi." Neji said in a stern voice.

Hanabi hung her head and whispered: "Yes, I am sorry."

"As you should be, young lady."

Hanabi jumped up in shock at the voice of her father. She knew she was in trouble now. Because Neji might have a soft spot for her, her father certainly didn't when it came to raising his children.

"Neji might find curiosity to be reason enough to forgive you for reading something that belongs to him, but I don't. We will discuss this after breakfast, Hanabi." Hiashi said as he sat down next to his daughter.

Hanabi hang her head and sighed heavily before nodding.

The room was silent when Neji finished breakfast. He stood up and smiled as he caught Hanabi's eye.

"Could you do me a favor?"

Hanabi frowned but nodded. Running errands for Neji was always fun.

"I have a letter for my secret admirer. Could you come and pick it up from my room later today and place it where you found the letter you gave to me?"

He had figured it out over breakfast. He would give Hanabi the letter, she would place it where she found the other one and with a bit of luck his secret admirer would find the letter. He hoped.

Hanabi gasped, which made Neji regret ever asking her. Her eyes twinkled and she grinned happily. "I'd love to! That's so cute. Are you asking to meet him? Do you love him? Do you know who it is? Do -"

"Hanabi, I'm getting a headache." Neji looked at his younger cousin with a glare. He sighed as he remembered his earlier words. "But I did say you could ask. I will tell you later, all right?"

Hanabi simply nodded, which Neji found enough. He smiled at her, nodded at his uncle and left the room. He could hear Hanabi whisper something that came very close to: "I bet he got drunk last night!"

Neji only sighed and wondered if the girl would ever grow up.

* * *

"_It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."_

So started the story told by one of the greatest female writers ever existed. And even though most men would find it embarrassing and awkward to be found reading a book meant for the female gender, Neji took no notice.

Jane Austen had written a wonderful little jewel with her book _Pride and Prejudice_. Anyone enjoying the company of a good book should have the opportunity to read it at least once.

This was Neji's second time reading it.

After training with Hiashi and then training with Lee and TenTen, Neji had decided to take some time for himself in his room. He opened the window, pulled up a chair and sat down with his book.

But now a very familiar person was going to interrupt his peace and quiet. Neji sighed, marked the page he was reading and leaned back in his chair. He looked at the door the moment it was pushed open and all Neji could do was stare in shock.

Because in the doorway of Neji's bedroom was Rock Lee. Rock Lee holding a flower-pot with a beautiful white orchid in it.

'_So when the flowers wilt…' _

Without even greeting his teammate Neji turned to look at his night-stand. The bouquet he had received from his secret admirer had indeed started to wilt.

He took a deep breath and turned towards Lee, who was smiling broadly at his friend.

"Lee," Neji started. He looked at the plant and back at Lee with a frown. "What's with the orchid?"

All Neji could do was think, 'Don't tell me it's Lee. Please don't let it be Lee.' Because it was almost impossible that it was Lee that wrote him the letters, right?

'He does have a special way with words.' Neji thought but shook his head. No, it couldn't be Lee.

While Neji was lost in his panicking thoughts, Lee walked towards Neji's desk and put the orchid down onto it. Then he turned back to Neji with his signature grin and exclaimed happily: "I found it at the gate of the compound. It had your name on it!"

Neji let out a breath of relief at that bit of information. It didn't rule out the fact that it could be Lee entirely, but it definitely eased his mind for a bit.

"I see. Thanks for bringing it in with you." Neji said with a polite nod. "Was there anything you wanted?"

"Ah, well…" Lee fidgeted for a moment and grinned stupidly after a few seconds. His eyes trailed away from Neji's face and he smiled. "That's a good-looking necklace, Neji."

Neji looked down at the necklace too and smiled. "Yes, it is. Thanks."

"Did your secret admirer give it to you?" Lee asked.

The way Lee was speaking was unnerving Neji a bit. Lee was never this un-enthusiastic. He was never the kind of person to fish for information.

So what was going on? Did Lee want to know something he didn't dare to ask, or was he trying to point something out to Neji?

But Lee couldn't be his secret admirer. Neji would've picked up on that a long time ago, right?

'You didn't notice it when TenTen liked you.' He thought. Neji closed his eyes for a second and took another deep breath. He would find out what was wrong with Lee.

If Lee didn't want to tell him, he would ask. And if Lee would not answer he would force it out of him.

But Neji had had it with Lee and his out-of-character behavior of the past week or two. It was going too far if it was worrying Neji. After all, Neji Hyuuga normally never worried about anything or anybody.

"Uh, Neji?"

Neji started and looked up again. Lee was looking at him with a slight frown as if waiting for an answer. Had Lee asked something? Oh yes, about the necklace.

"Ah, yes. Sorry I was lost in thought." Neji apologized with a slight smile. "And I got the necklace from my secret admirer, yes."

"Ah, must be nice." Lee said with a sad smile.

Neji frowned. "Lee, sit on the bed please." He asked.

Lee obediently sat down and looked at Neji. "Neji, is something wrong?"

"Yes, but not with me." Neji said.

His mind was racing. What could he say? Where should he start? He wasn't one to address people to their personal problems. Luckily for Neji, Lee answered him with another question.

"What do you mean, Neji?" Lee was asking, sounding anxious. He looked nervous and couldn't seem to sit still.

"You've been acting strange, Lee."

"Strange how?"

"You're quite un-enthusiastic about things; don't sprout love and youth around anymore. Something happened to make you not do those things Lee." Neji pointed out.

"TenTen and you were always complaining that it was annoying anyway. Why are you so unhappy that I listened to the two of you for once?" Lee asked.

Neji gritted his teeth. Now he understood why he didn't like speaking with people about their personal problems. He didn't have the patience. Already Lee was annoying him to no end with his avoidance of the question.

So what would make Lee answer to him if reasonable questions didn't work? Neji sighed. Maybe being honest and voicing his concerns would help more.

"Lee, even though we think that sometimes you could tone it down a bit, that is a part of who you are! We accepted that a long time ago. Something is wrong with you and I am worried because you haven't been yourself for days. I only want to help, Lee."

Neji took a deep breath as he watched Lee's reaction. Neji himself would try not to ever have to have such an outburst again. He didn't like it that his feelings were openly exposed, even if it was just concern for a friend.

Lee took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and twisted with his fingers. A frown appeared on his face almost as if he was contemplating on what to say to Neji.

After a few moments and another deep breath, Lee started to speak and looked Neji right in the eyes with a somewhat sad expression.

"Neji, if I suddenly walked up to you and said I loved you, sincerely loved you. How would you react?"

Neji stared at his teammate in utter shock. He could feel a very vague yet familiar feeling rising in him. Perhaps it was just the lack of sleep and worrying about his secret admirer of the past few days that had finally caught up with him.

Or maybe it was the very shocking question Lee had asked. Or perhaps it could be considered a revelation.

At any rate, Neji's eyes rolled back and he could hear Lee call out his name with worry before everything turned black.

TBC.

**Author's note: **Oh, exciting! I love how this chapter came out. Please tell me what you think of it too! I'd love to know what people think about the chapters I write. I am only a mere writer; I need words of advice and encouragement too!

Until next chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

For disclaimer and warning see first chapter.

**Chapter 9**

Neji groaned.

What had happened? Why was he lying on something that felt very much like a bed?

Slowly the entire situation came to his mind. The fact his secret admirer was male, the necklace, the flowers… and Lee who asked him –

Neji opened his eyes and sat up with a gasp. Lee. He had to see Lee and ask him what was going on.

But a pair of hands on his shoulders, pushing him down, and worried white-lavender eyes withheld him from jumping up and chase down Lee.

"You shouldn't sit up Neji," Hinata smiled at him. "But I'm glad you're all right. We were all quite shocked when Lee ran into the living-room in panic proclaiming you had fainted."

'Of course Lee was in panic, I fainted on him after that… shocking question.' Neji thought and wanted to sneer at his own weakness. How could he have fainted like some stupid girl?

Neji sighed dejectedly. He _had_ to find Lee and ask him what was going on. What was the meaning behind the question? Was Lee really his secret admirer or was Neji blowing things out of proportion?

Neji was about to sit up again when Hinata stopped him.

"Neji, no," she said in a stern tone.

"Hinata, I need to speak to Lee. I just fainted, I'm fine now."

"Neji," Hinata sighed. She sat down on the bed and looked at her cousin. "You were out for almost an hour. Father even called the doctor." She explained.

He had been out for an hour? Was that even possible? Hiashi had called the doctor and now Hinata didn't allow him to get out of bed. What was going on?  
Hinata apparently understood Neji's confusion as she said: "You have a slight fever and you're apparently very stressed at the moment. You have to stay in bed for a few days." With a sigh Hinata continued: "Do you ever take a break, Neji?"

Neji bit his lip. He never really took a day off to do nothing if that was Hinata meant. It just wasn't something he normally did.

"No." He said and shook his head. Was he even allowed to take a break anyway?

Normally he wouldn't be as stressed as he was right now anyway. It was just an exception because of the current situation.

It seemed that falling in love and trying to find out who he was in love with was more stressful than he could have ever anticipated.

"Neji," Hinata sighed again. "If you ever feel tired and don't want to train because of that you just have to say so. We won't think any less of you because you're looking out for yourself," she said with a smile.

Neji smiled gratefully at her concern. "Thank you, Hinata."

"But I understand that with the current situation you sleep a bit less than normally and would feel a bit more stressed than usual too," Hinata continued with a grin.

Neji chuckled at her comment. Of course Hinata would understand that his quest of finding out who his secret admirer was was quite stressful for someone such as Neji.

But the fact that Hinata understood his reason for not being all too well right now didn't take away the fact he still wasn't seeing Lee anywhere near him.

"Hinata, where is Lee?" he asked her in an urgent tone. Didn't she understand talking to Lee right now was almost the same as a matter of life and death?

"Why do you want to speak with him so urgently Neji? He said he wished you well and understood that lately you've had a bit of a rough time. You don't need to explain it to him." Hinata smiled at her cousin.

Neji frowned. Lee understood, understood what exactly? "Hinata…"

"Neji, if I say Lee is on a mission right now would you stay in bed for the coming few days?"

Neji stared at Hinata and blinked. Lee was on a mission? It couldn't be, he had been with Neji only an hour ago. He couldn't be away on a mission already.

"He came here to tell you he couldn't train with you for the next few days. He is on his way to Suna to deliver a scroll from the Hokage." Hinata explained softly.

Neji lay still for a moment. So he had no chance to talk to Lee right now. He'd have to wait until Lee returned.

Neji sighed. He'd just have to hope things weren't going to be very bad when Lee did return.

"Anyway, it's nice of you to worry about him." Hinata said and smiled at Neji.

But when Neji opened his mouth to protest, she continued. "In fact, you should tell him."

Neji frowned. "Why would I ever do that?" he mumbled softly. If he even was worried about Lee, what reason would he have to notify Lee of it?

"Because Lee worries about you too. It's normal to do that when you care about each other," Hinata explained with a smile.

Before Neji could say anything about it or question her motives for mentioning it anyway, Hinata stood up. "I've held you up for long enough with my blabbering. I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone to get some sleep."

She walked towards the door and opened it. But before she left she turned back to Neji. "Father will want to speak with you later and I must warn you, Hanabi is on pins and needles to speak with you too. Be sure to get some rest the coming three hours or so." Having said that she bid him goodbye and left him alone in the silent sanctuary of his room.

* * *

"… and my technique is getting way better too. When you're better again I'll show you. I'll kick your ass!" Hanabi was rambling. She sound very sure of herself and was almost glowing with pride.

Hiashi smiled happily at his daughter's excitement. Later he would tell her to tone her pride down a notch, but right now he let her ramble. Pride wasn't a thing Hiashi encouraged. But Hanabi looked up to Neji a lot so he understood her bragging.

While Hanabi was talking excitedly to Neji and Hiashi was basking in happiness of having his family together and happy, Hinata sat in a chair glancing at Neji worriedly.

The doctor had said Neji needed bedrest for the coming week. He wasn't terribly ill but he had been sick a month or so before too. So just to be cautious the doctor found it better that Neji took his rest to gain some strength. And it was also the perfect change for Neji to get his thoughts straight.

Didn't that mean he was supposed to sleep? Because right now Neji was far from some actual sleep.

But even though she was a bit worried about Neji, she was also very happy right now. Hiashi and Hanabi had decided that after three hours of sleep Neji was ready for a visit.

It had certainly been a while since the four of them had been pleasantly sitting in a room together. It was nice to be able to do this.

Neji was also quite content. He felt refreshed after the nap he'd taken and appreciated the worry of his family.

He smirked at Hanabi's enthusiasm. He thought it an honor that Hanabi looked up to him and took him as an example for her training. Although sometimes listening to the girl could be somewhat tiring.

She rambled on and on and after a while Neji had to stifle a yawn. Hiashi laughed, Hinata smiled and Hanabi teased him of being bored of her voice.

Neji simply laughed and said he would never get tired of hearing Hanabi brag of how wonderful he was. Hanabi hit him softly in the chest for his arrogance.

Their playful banter was disturbed after a short while though.

Loud chirping interrupted Hanabi as she was talking to Neji. With a frown everyone in the room turned to the open window on the other side of the room.

There, on the windowsill, sat a small bird. It chirped happily as Hanabi walked towards it but didn't fly away.

"Look!" Hanabi exclaimed excitedly as she pointed to the birds' feet. "It's got a message with it."

And indeed, a note was bound to the birds' feet with a small blue string.

Without asking anyone if she was even allowed what she was about to do, Hanabi gently grabbed the bird and released the note.

She then put the bird back onto the windowsill and it flew away.

Hanabi looked at the paper and grinned as she looked at Neji afterwards. "Guess…"

Hinata grinned, Hiashi chuckled and Neji wanted to bang his head against the headboard when Hanabi noticed his blush.

"Oh, everyone knows whose letter this is!" Hanabi sang. She happily walked towards the bed and sat down onto it. She looked at Neji with a wide grin and dangled the letter in front of his eyes.

"Hanabi, don't taunt me." Neji hissed at his younger cousin.

"Neji is right, Hanabi. Give him the letter and leave him alone." Hiashi told his daughter.

Hanabi pouted but nonetheless gave Neji the letter. "He can't read it anyway." She said with a playful smile. "If he does, he'll be in bed for another week because of the stress."

"I'm not that stressed by a letter, Hanabi." Neji said.

All he wanted right now was for his family to leave him alone so he could read the letter. His heart was beating hard in his chest out of nervousness.

He didn't have a clue what he could expect to read in the letter. Now that he had a feeling it might be Lee that was writing him these letters, he didn't know what to expect anymore.

He fidgeted with the end of the sheet and sighed. He looked at his uncle and found the man was already looking at him.

"Well, it seems Neji has found himself something else to do than listen to us." Hiashi said to his daughters as he stood up. He sent them both a look and the two girls stood up too.

The three bid Neji goodbye and left him alone. But not before making sure Neji understood he was not to get out of bed unless he needed to use the bathroom or in case of an emergency.

* * *

Neji was a bit surprised at the shortness of the letter. Also, it wasn't written in nice letters on good-quality paper. It almost seemed as if his secret admirer had been in a hurry while he wrote the letter.

But all those things didn't take the leap of his stomach and the flutter in his chest away as he started to read.

"_My dearest Neji,_

_First I will start to apologize. I was in a bit of a hurry when I wrote you this letter, so it might be lacking a bit.  
__But this letter is not intended to woo you and sweep you off your feet. I only wish you well._

_You have fallen ill again and in some respects, I feel as if it is my fault. I apologize if that is indeed the case.  
__I wish I could be with you right now, to take care of you the way I want to. The way you deserve to be treated like. But unfortunately due to circumstances I can not be with you.  
__Therefore I hope you will feel better again quickly and that I am able to see you again soon._

_I hope you liked the flowers I gave you. The other ones had wilted I noticed, so the time was right for new ones. I love you Neji, I really do. I speak from the bottom of my heart when I say that. I hope you know my feelings are true and genuine and that I would do anything for you._

_I hope you will soon be better._

_With Love."_

Neji couldn't help but smile.

The concern of his secret admirer was so genuine in this letter. To Neji it could be a medicine in itself to have someone worry about him like this. For someone to wish to be taking care of him when he was feeling bad, that feeling was indescribable and it made the letter feel more real than all the others he had had before.

Neji also found it very adorable that even though the man was in a hurry, he still found time to write him a letter.

That thought made his heart flutter again.

Neji sighed. If this really was the feeling of loving someone, he would never give it away again.

It made him feel so free and content like nothing else in the world mattered.

'God,' Neji thought with a smirk, 'I've become a complete sap.'

But he could have seen that coming of course. He had seen Hinata act unlike herself whenever she was talking or even thinking about Naruto.

Thinking of Hinata and Naruto made Neji think of his secret admirer's identity again.

Neji had been quite taken aback by the thought Lee might be his secret admirer. But if Lee, who could be silent and a good listener on some occasions, loved him, perhaps it was all right.

Because if Lee did write the letters, it meant he cared a lot about him. Although writing letters was not a thing one would expect Lee to do, it might just be that Lee was nervous or shy to admit he actually loved someone. Genuinely loved someone, as Lee had said himself.

Neji licked his lips. He loved his secret admirer, right? So if his secret admirer indeed turned out to be Lee, it wasn't so bad.

Because he loved the person writing him letters. And if it wasn't love, it was very close to it.

Yes, Neji decided, no matter whom it was who wrote him letters, he would love that person. Or at least try to love that person…

Because it was only fair, right? To immediately reject a person because Neji had never taken the time to get to know him was unfair. Everyone deserved a chance and if Neji himself never got to know the person that claimed to love him, how would Neji even know if his own feelings were real?

Neji sighed. He was getting so tired of always thinking about his secret admirer.

Not because he didn't like thinking about someone that loved him and that he loved in return. But Neji always questioned everything and even Neji was uncertain in this situation.

He placed the letter on the nightstand and pulled the blanket over himself. Perhaps it was better to not worry about it now and simply sleep.

It would at least please the doctor to hear Neji obeyed him. For once.

**TBC.**


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer and warnings: first chapter.

**Chapter 10**

Neji lay in bed, bored and irritated.

He couldn't sleep. Not after the doctor had come to check up on him. Neji hated it when the doctor checked up on him.

The man was old, ugly and always nagged him about the fact he worked a lot and never took a day off.

Neji had Hinata to give him lectures about his health; he didn't need an old and ugly man to do it a second time.

Also, the man never came with good news. Neji simply concluded that it was because the man was a doctor.

In the first instance, Neji had thought that Hinata and Hiashi had overreacted when he had fainted. Now that he had had a good conversation with the doctor himself, Neji thought that perhaps he needed to listen to Hinata once in a while when she said he had to take a break.

Neji sighed. How was he supposed to stay in his bed for an entire week and survive? He had thought being in the hospital was bad, but this was even worse.

Luckily, to relieve him from his boredom, Ten-Ten would come by in the afternoon. Neji wasn't sure if he was looking forward to that or not.

* * *

Ten-Ten pulled a chair near Neji's bed. She was at the moment looking at her friend with a grin.

Neji frowned at that and irritated asked: "What?"

Ten-Ten snickered. "You look like Shikamaru."

Neji raised an eyebrow at the girls' statement. "In what possible way do I look like him?"

"Oh, it's simple," Ten-Ten stated matter-of-factly. It was almost as if she expected Neji to read her mind. After a few seconds, when she found out he wasn't going to do that, she continued, "You also look bored out of your mind."

Neji smirked with a small "heh". He felt relieved at least someone understood that he was seriously bored.

"Glad I noticed?" Ten-Ten asked as she saw him smirk.

Neji smiled for a moment. After four years of being teammates, Neji and Ten-Ten had gotten to know each other pretty well.

"Yes," Neji said.

Ten-Ten snickered. "I could sneak you out." She said lightly.

Neji tried to look very shocked at her remark but failed. The edges of his lips quirked as he said: "Hiashi would be shocked and disappointed, Hinata would faint and Hanabi would have a field-trip."

Ten-Ten burst out laughing at this.

Neji smirked at Ten-Ten's obvious amusement. It was nice to spend a few hours with her since they hadn't had time for that lately.

"Yes, I guess it would ruin your image if I were to take you away. Your secret admirer would go crazy with worry and heartbreak too." She joked.

"Yes he would. But he need not worry."

"And why not?"

"Because I'd never run away with you."

"No, you'd rather grab Lee by his arm and drag him away into the sunset, now wouldn't you?" Ten-Ten laughed. She knew Neji favored guys rather than girls. She also knew Neji had no problem with it. What she didn't know though, that the thought of Neji and Lee running at the horizon hand-in-hand would not be received well with Neji right now.

Neji gasped in surprise at hearing his friend say that. He felt a blush coloring his cheeks.

Ten-Ten frowned at Neji's blush. She wondered what had gotten into Neji all of a sudden. Why was he blushing? She had only mentioned Lee, just for fun.

"Did something happen between Lee and you?" She asked. "He has been out of it…" She muttered as an afterthought.

Neji looked away from Ten-Ten at her question. He didn't know how to respond to her.

He could tell her he thought Lee was in love with him. But that along with all of his other thoughts were mere suspicions.

"Do you know what's bothering Lee, is that it?" Ten-Ten asked with a frown.

"Ah, well, he certainly is in love." Neji answered.

He fidgeted with the sheets as he looked at Ten-Ten. He wondered how soon she would catch on to what he was thinking.

"You already said that. What's changed? All I know is that Lee wanted to talk to you about… oh." Ten-Ten's features changed from happily chatting to very surprised and a bit shocked in just a second.

With a somewhat nervous smirk Neji realized Ten-Ten now understood what he was thinking.

Ten-Ten looked up at her friend. She saw the look on his face and took a deep shuddering breath. She wondered for a moment if she wasn't just misreading the situation.

"It can't be." She said and shook her head. But as she looked at Neji again and saw his raised eyebrow she sighed. "What the hell is going on?"

Neji looked at Ten-Ten with a raised eyebrow. Did she really need to ask that? Perhaps she just didn't want to believe it. Neji could understand that of course.

"I think Lee is in love with me." He deadpanned. It felt so strange to say the words. Almost alien.

Perhaps it was the word love that Neji felt uncomfortable saying to someone other than himself. Or maybe it was the combination of love, Lee and himself in the same sentence.

"You think Lee is in love with you." Ten-Ten repeated his words as she looked at him with unbelief.

Neji nodded and waited patiently until Ten-Ten had fully absorbed the information.

"Our green-clad, hyperactive teammate Lee?" Ten-Ten bit her lip for a moment. Then she looked at Neji again and smirked. "When are you going to tell me you are joking?"

"What?" Now it was Neji's turn to stare at his friend in unbelief. He knew it sounded strange that Lee could ever be in love, let alone with him. But that Ten-Ten even went so far as to think Neji was joking was a bit offending in Neji's opinion.

Ten-Ten, seeing Neji's look, realized he wasn't joking. "Oh my… this is just unbelievable. Not to burst your ego, but what makes you think it's _you_ that Lee is in love with?" She asked.

It felt strange to her that there was a chance that Lee could be in love with Neji. They were both her teammates. Neji had been her crush a few years ago and now she was helping him get a love-life! She sighed. That was probably just the thing you had to do as the only female member of a team.

Neji pinched the bridge of his nose. He wondered if he even wanted to discuss this with Ten-Ten. But who else could help him figure out the situation? Who else knew Lee and him better than Ten-Ten?

"He…" Neji sighed. How could he explain this to Ten-Ten? "I think he is my secret admirer."

Ten-Ten frowned for a second before giggling. "Well, the letters would fit Lee."

"Yes, that's what I thought too. Lee also brought me a potted flower, which he said he found at the entrance of the compound."

"And the flower on your nightstand is wilting. I get where you are going. But that can't be the only thing."

"No, it isn't," Neji answered. "He complimented the necklace I'm wearing. The necklace my secret admirer gave me to show him I don't mind it's a male."

"That could be just Lee commenting on something he thinks is pretty," Ten-Ten answered with a wave of her hand. "By the way, I like it when you're in love."

"W-what? Who ever said I was -" Neji started to protest but Ten-Ten interrupted his protests with a shake of her head.

"It's written all over you. I wouldn't go as far to call it cute… but you get where I'm going. Seriously, it's nice. You get a bit chattier now that you are in love. It's nice to talk to a person instead of a brick wall once in a while," Ten-Ten explained calmly with a smile.

Neji looked at her and gave a small smile of appreciation in return. Perhaps he should open up to her more often. It would be a good thing for their friendship at least.

"But a potted-plant and a random comment on a new necklace aren't enough reasons to make you believe our dear Youthful friend is in love with you." Ten-Ten smirked.

Neji looked down. Now came the somewhat embarrassing part. "He asked me how I would react if he said he seriously loved me." He muttered.

Ten-Ten gasped. "No way! Really? How did you react?"

"Ah, well… I sort of fainted." Neji said in an embarrassed tone. He kind of feared Ten-Ten's reaction to his words.

He found it ridiculous himself that he had fainted so he wondered how someone else would react.

Neji would never tell anyone again he had ever fainted. Because now he knew for sure he would never survive another serious attack of laughter of someone else again.

While Neji was telling himself to keep fainting a secret, Ten-Ten blinked. She leaned her head to the side and let the information register in her mind with another blink.

A small smile appeared on her face and she giggled softly. She looked at Neji and burst out in laughter as their eyes caught.

Her entire body shook with laughter and she was lucky she didn't fall off of the chair.

Neji's eyebrow twitched as he watched the girl. He was embarrassed but he was even more annoyed.

For him this was a very serious situation but Ten-Ten didn't seem to think so. In fact, she wasn't even attempting to stop laughing.

"Ten-Ten." He called out to calm her down.

She looked up at him but continued to giggle. She thought it was hilarious.

Neji was a strong person, came across as a strong person and wanted to be respected for that.

Ten-Ten understood of course. Neji wasn't used to having emotions this strong for someone and he wanted help with that. If only she could get her laughter under control.

"I-I'm sorry!" She hiccupped and wiped some tears out of her eyes. Her laughter had died down. Her cheeks were still flushed though as she looked at Neji.

"Yes, are you sure you're done laughing?" Neji asked on a sarcastic tone.

Ten-Ten grinned sheepishly and looked awry with a bit of an embarrassed expression. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to laugh at you like that." She apologized softly.

Neji looked at her and sighed. "It was kind of ridiculous actually." He admitted, which was a rare occasion.

"Yes indeed." Ten-Ten agreed with yet another grin. "But it's important to you so it was rude to laugh."

Neji didn't answer her. He was grateful that she understood that this matter was important to him. Even bothered him at some point.

Because he found it annoying that he was sitting here, bound to a bed, without having a chance to find out what was true and what not.

He wasn't going to turn Lee down if all of this wasn't a misunderstanding. He just wanted to be sure that it was indeed Lee and not someone else. He wanted to know if he was freaking out because his teammate was in love with him rightfully or not.

But, as Neji had learned over the years, patience was a virtue.

* * *

It was already around six when Hanabi politely knocked on the door and entered without hearing an answer.

She stepped inside without closing the door and with a smile asked if Ten-Ten wished to stay for dinner.

Shocked that time had flown by Ten-Ten said she wouldn't since she promised her mother to help her cook dinner.

Hanabi left the two alone again with the message Neji's dinner would be brought to his room in about half an hour.

Ten-Ten sighed as she leaned against the back of the chair. "I'll be out soon. So if there is anything you still want to discuss now is your chance."

"All I can do is wait until Lee gets home." Neji said with a small shrug.

"Yes. I do hope that things turn out all right." She said. "Oh!" Ten-Ten stood up and walked to Neji's desk. "I brought you something to fight the boredom." She said happily as she held up a seemingly heavy bag.

Neji frowned. "What's in it?" He asked somewhat warily. The bag looked a bit suspicious.

He knew he already read all of Ten-Ten's books he found interesting, so there was a small chance she would bring him books. But besides reading, there wasn't really any other thing Neji liked to do in bed, when awake.

Or perhaps… Neji flushed. He'd definitely had been in a bed thinking about his secret-admirer for way too long. This was Ten-Ten! She wouldn't give him anything but books, flowers and a get-well card.

"I do wonder what you are thinking about right now." Ten-Ten teased as she saw her friend's flushed cheeks. "But I'll leave this with you." She said and handed Neji the bag.

Neji took it from her with a small smile. "Thank you." He peered into the bag and grinned.

He got out one of the books in the bag and studied the title. 'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant'. He'd never heard of it. "I'll return them to you later."

"Thanks. I borrowed them from a friend. You've already read most of my books and this series is said to be a real challenge. I think you'll enjoy it." Ten-Ten said.

She stood by the door and smiled at Neji. "Don't worry too much about Lee. It will be fine."

Neji grunted at hearing this. "I'll try."

Ten-Ten simply laughed and wished him luck as she left him alone in the solitude of his room again.

**TBC.**

The next chapter can take a bit longer than this one. I'm working on chapter 7 of Thinking Outside the Box and want to finish at least half a chapter before continuing with this fic. It could take a few weeks before the next chapter is due. Please be patient and let me know what you think of the story so far!


	11. Chapter 11

This took quite a while to write… So I hope the chapter is worth the wait and drop me a review with what you thought of it, please.  
Disclaimer and warnings in first chapter as always.

**Chapter 11**

Neji stared at yet another gift he had received from his secret admirer, baffled.

He couldn't accept this! It was way too expensive and precious to be given to him in the first place.

Neji did smile though and not just a small smile indicating that he appreciated the gift. No, it was a big smile that almost reached from one ear to another, a truly happy smile that could only be seen on the faces of those who are madly in love.

If Hanabi could have seen him, she would squeal and call him cute. Afterwards she would tease him forever and a day for looking like that.

If Hinata had been around, she would blush and stutter that she was happy for Neji. She wouldn't tease him; Naruto would do that in her turn.

If Hiashi had seen him standing in his room staring at a gift with a goofy grin on his face, he would have chuckled. After that he would inform if Neji was in need to hear "the talk", Hiashi would be willing to give it to him once more. Neji was sure he would flee the room in that instance.

But no-one was around but him. This left him to bask in the feeling of happiness and love for an unknown person alone.

He had been so surprised when one of the servants and knocked on his door. It was a rare occurrence that Neji was called out by one of the servants or called upon to attend a meeting.

He was a bit wary when he opened the door, not sure what to expect.

What he surely hadn't expected was a very large gift to be given at him. The servant said it had been delivered just a few minutes before by a delivery-man from Suna.

If it hadn't been for the fact that Neji was well-rested because of the past few days in bed, he surely would have fainted again.

It was probably one of the most expensive chess-boards he had ever seen! It was made of beautiful black and white marble.

Marble that one could only find in the deepest desert near Suna but Neji decided not to ponder on that. It would only get him started on Lee again and that would result in lots of sighs and staring out of the window.

The board itself lay in an octagon shape. The edges were black and decorated with painted white lilies with gorgeous edges and elegant lines.

The chess-pieces lay in a small drawer under the board. The drawer was dressed with a red cloth and the pieces were simple in their design.

Neji loved it.

Later he would find a perfect and beautiful spot to place the board. But for now his desk had to do although the board didn't seem to be that much out of place on his mahogany desk.

Neji sighed happily as he watched the chess-board look pretty on his desk. He lay on his bed and was fidgeting with the letter that had accompanied the board.

He felt as if he was floating on air already, no matter how sappy and girlish that sounded. With a happy smile he opened the letter and prepared himself for another round of happy sighs and loving smiles.

"_My dearest Neji,_

_How I miss seeing you. If haven't seen you for such a long time and my heart calls out to you. I long to see you if only for a moment. But unfortunately I am unable to._

_Therefore I send you this gift. You might not realize it, but this chess-board is perfect for you.  
It is beautiful. The design is graceful and detailed. The board should be handled with the utmost care and represents intelligence.  
Those are all traits one can find in you if they look close enough.  
The moment I saw this board I knew it belonged with you._

_I wish I could've been there with you when the board was given to you. Then I could have seen you smile.  
Because in a burst of egoism, I took the liberty to assume that you would smile and be happy with the gift._

_I love you and I wish I could say it to you in person. But I still do not dare to.  
I am sure of my own feelings and was overjoyed when I saw the necklace I gave you adorn your beautiful pale skin.  
Another thing that made my heart leap was the small letter you wrote to me. It was the most wonderful and sweet thing you could have done and I basked in happiness for days.  
But you spoke of uncertainty in your letter. And even though I would be the happiest man alive if only I could tell you of my feelings while you know who I am, I fear rejection.  
So I am afraid your face-to-face meeting will have to wait for a while._

_So, for now I hope this board will take you away from your boredom. I also hope you will think of me when your eyes may fall upon the board. _

_Until next time._

_With Love."_

With a blush Neji looked at the board on his desk. He simply couldn't be happier with the gift.

But, his secret admirer said that he thought that Neji was uncertain about his feelings.

Perhaps last time Neji wasn't sure about his feelings, but he was now.

Sitting in his room and finding out about Lee certainly got him thinking.

Neji could now say for sure that the flutter in his chest and that almost constant floating feeling was love.

Standing up, he walked to his desk and stroked the edge of the board with a gentle smile.

If he hurried and wrote a small note perhaps he could still send it.

Neji knew that when a messenger from outside Konoha delivered something to the compound, he would be offered a place to eat, drink and rest for a few hours.

If he was lucky, the messenger was still in the house. Then he could get the note delivered to his secret admirer.

At least that was what he hoped. Because if Neji were honest with himself, he knew the message would never be delivered.

If it was Lee who was his secret admirer, there was a big chance he was on his way back to Konoha already.

If his secret admirer wasn't Lee, there was an even bigger chance that the message wouldn't reach that person.

Neji sighed in frustration. It was indeed somewhat pointless to write a letter to someone that would probably never reach that person.

Before he could give it any further thoughts someone knocked on his bedroom door. As Neji's stomach made an awkward and embarrassing sound he realized it was indeed time for dinner.

* * *

Neji sat on his bed, cross-legged and his back leaning against the wall. He was bored. It was one in the middle of the night and he was bored. Neji sighed as he hung his head.

An hour ago he'd even been so desperate he had begun counting down the hours he had to spend in his room on 'doctor's order'. 78 hours. This meant 3 days and then some hours more. Yes, he had only been bound to his room for just a short while.

But right now Neji was sick of reading yet another book. And he did have his new state-of-the-art chess-board. But he had no-one to play a game with. How utterly boring and disappointing that was.

Neji didn't feel bad for himself, not really. Because that would be very un-Hyuuga like and he'd done more than enough un-Hyuuga like things.

Neji did feel that life was making fun of him again. And since that had happened to him a lot in the past years, Neji considered this a perfectly normal Hyuuga thought. Or maybe a perfectly normal Neji Hyuuga thought.

Neji got up from his bed and walked to the window. He opened it and took a deep breath while he closed his eyes.

The weather was nice. It was just the right temperature for a mid-night stroll. Neji sighed irritated. He'd just have to wait another week to do that.

It was just such a shame that the weather in this rainy country would be so good during the week that Neji was locked in his room.

Suddenly he heard a rustle coming from the bushes below his window. Neji frowned at that. What or who could be at his window this late at night?

Neji had already decided that the person, because it was most definitely a person, wasn't going to attack him. It was just intuition he was going on though, but any person attacking a Hyuuga on Hyuuga property had a death wish.

With a smirk Neji realized that the person in the bushes didn't know he was hanging out of his window yet. But who on earth could it possibly be?

There was a big chance that it was Naruto. The boy sneaked into the compound sometimes to be with Hinata at night. Neji smirked.

"Hinata's room is on the other side of the compound but if you want you're free to come in my room any time." Neji called out as he leaned his head on his hands. He had placed his elbows on the windows ledge and was looking down now.

The reaction he got to his calling out was an immediate one. But it wasn't Naruto that jumped from the bushes, looked up with a slightly flustered look.

No, it was Shikamaru Nara who scratched the back of his head. The moment the flustered look disappeared he said on a somewhat bored tone: "At least it is the right room."

For a moment he seemed to think but pretty fast continues with a lazy smirk: "But I'm not quite sure about the underlying invitation of yours."

Neji too smirked at Shikamaru's response. But he still wondered what the boy was doing here at this late hour. So he asked him.

* * *

"And you couldn't wait until tomorrow morning with this?" Neji asked with a groan as he looked over the scrolls that now scattered his bed.

"She wanted it done today." Shikamaru told Neji with a shrug. Shikamaru had sat down in the chair Ten-Ten had left near his bed and was watching Neji rummage through the scrolls.

"Technically it is tomorrow." Neji muttered under his breath. He had wanted something to do, yes. But he didn't want to look to scrolls to give the Hokage his opinion on them. What boring work did she think she could saddle him up with?

"My doctor would freak out if he saw me reading scrolls right now." Neji sighed.

He shot another look at Shikamaru and saw the boy slumped down in the chair with his eyes closed.

Neji raised an eyebrow at that. And this was the guy who thought everything and everyone was troublesome? With a sigh Neji realized he could've seen it coming that this guy was boring.

But Neji wasn't going to sit there, go against everything his doctor had ordered and look over boring scrolls on his own.

He grabbed one of the scrolls and checked if there was anything of importance written on it. _"Summer-festival planning" _didn't seem very interesting and important to Neji.

He looked at Shikamaru who was now most definitely sleeping, aimed, and threw the scroll at the sleeping boy.

He smirked when Shikamaru coughed and with a jolt sat up.

He looked around for a second, blinking his eyes. But after a moment his gaze fell upon a smirking Neji and Shikamaru was immediately annoyed. "What the hell was that?" He demanded.

"I'm not looking through boring scrolls about upcoming festivals and who-knows-what while you're sleeping in a chair." Neji said calmly. It seemed that Shikamaru didn't like being woken up with something thrown at his head.

Shikamaru glared but with a sigh leaned against the back of the chair again. "Aren't you happy you've got something to do? Even I'd be bored if I were in your situation." He said with a shrug.

"Yes, I do get bored." Neji admitted. He shot a look at the scrolls and scowled. "But I'm not _that_ bored yet."

Neji laid some scrolls out of the way and sat down. "You can go home, you know. Get some sleep." He said as he looked at Shikamaru again. "You look tired."

"Nah, that's how I always look." Shikamaru drawled.

Neji smirked. The guy knew a lot about himself, that much was for sure. At least he didn't pretend to be interested in something he wasn't interested in. How Neji hated that kind of person. And then there was Lee, who was simply interested in everything. Neji didn't know yet if he liked that or not.

"I wouldn't mind sitting here for a while. It would help you fight the boredom and I'd save me the trouble of having to get up and actually walk home." Shikamaru said.

Neji smiled for a moment. This guy was the laziest he'd ever met. He sure did live up to his reputation for sure. But he wasn't going to tell the guy that. Worst case scenario would be that Shikamaru was offended and would leave because of that. This would leave Neji alone again. Alone and bored, which he didn't want to be.

While Neji sent Shikamaru a somewhat grateful look Shikamaru was looking around the room.

After a moment his eye fell upon Neji's desk and his eyes widened a bit. "That's one of the most expensive boards I've ever seen." He said in awe as his gaze was fixed upon Neji's chess-board.

Neji smiled with pride and said: "Yes, it's beautiful."

"Indeed, very beautiful." Shikamaru said. He looked from the board to Neji again and smirked. "Want to play?"

**TBC.**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer and warning in first chapter.

**Chapter 12**

Shikamaru, Neji found, was quite nice to be around.

First of all, Shikamaru didn't gossip. It was a relief for Neji to talk to someone who didn't immediately fire questions at him about his secret admirer.

Shikamaru had inquired where Neji got the chess-board. Neji figured it was an inquiry out of curiosity for the board itself and not Neji's personal life.

When Neji told Shikamaru he had received the board as a gift from his secret admirer, Shikamaru simply nodded.

He then commented that Neji's secret admirer must care a lot because it was an expensive board.

Neji simply thanked him with a small blush.

Shikamaru was also very smart. He wasn't called a genius for nothing after all because playing chess with Shikamaru was a delight for Neji.

Hinata couldn't play and playing against Hanabi was never any fun; she wasn't very good and on top of that she was a sore loser.

Playing against Hiashi was nice sometimes. But with Neji being a prodigy and all, he was bound to be smarter than his uncle.

And even though Neji was known for his pride, even to him always winning got boring sometimes.

So playing against Shikamaru, doing his very best and still end up losing was nice for once.

Well into their second game Shikamaru suddenly yawned and looked at his companion with a frown. "Aren't you tired? It's almost three."

Neji looked at Shikamaru and shook his head. "I've slept for almost two days; I really don't think I can sleep any more," Neji looked over Shikamaru's posture for a moment and smiled. "But you're almost asleep now, aren't you?"

"Perhaps. Why don't I go home when we finish this game?" Shikamaru asked with a small nod towards the board.

"Sure. I'm on the winning hand anyway," Neji answered a bit too enthusiastically.

"That's just because I'm tired," Shikamaru grumbled.

Neji laughed at Shikamaru's words. It seemed that Shikamaru was in a bit of a sour mood because he was losing.

It was a bit understandable that one would be disappointed if he lost if that person _never_ lost.

"Then we'll just have to do the game over again when you're wide awake," Neji said.

Shikamaru looked at the long-haired boy in front of him and smirked. "I'll be sure to beat you then, next time."

Fifteen minutes later Shikamaru yawned and stretched his arms above his head. He was standing in front of the window, ready to go home and sleep.

Neji looked at his bed, saw the mess on it, and looked at Shikamaru. "What about the scrolls?" he asked.

"I'll pick them up tomorrow afternoon, okay? Maybe we can play another game then." Shikamaru said with his bored tone back in place.

Neji nodded at the offer. "I'll make sure I've read them all by then," he said.

Shikamaru nodded and with a last goodbye, jumped out of the window.

'Well,' Neji thought with a sigh, 'at least I can entertain myself now.'

* * *

By ten in the morning, Neji had worked his way through six of the eight scrolls, reading them and writing advice for the Hokage about what he'd read. It was a boring and ungrateful job but always better than sitting on the bed and deciding what shade of white his wall was.

"How hard is it to just listen once in your life?"

Neji had figured the moment he received the scrolls that Hiashi would not be amused by that. Judging from the current look on his uncle's face, Neji had been right in his assumption.

"If I am not allowed to leave my room for a week, I need to do things to occupy me." Neji told his uncle who now stood in the middle of the room.

"It's only three more days. This can probably wait until the three days are over." Hiashi said with a frown.

"Probably, yes," Neji muttered. Suddenly he felt very tired for a moment and yawned. Big mistake.

"If you're tired, you should just go to sleep."

"No, Shikamaru will be here to pick up the scrolls in a few hours." Neji said. He wanted to have the scrolls finished when Shikamaru came. Hiashi apparently didn't agree.

"Ah, the Nara-boy brought you the scrolls then. Does he know of your condition?" Hiashi asked.

"I don't know, but the Hokage does." Neji answered. Why would his uncle and to know?  
"So, are you going to sleep now, Neji?" Hiashi asked, sounding urgent.

"No. As I said, I need -"

"You need to sleep. Otherwise the doctor will probably agree with me that another week of rest is needed to get you back to your usual self," Hiashi spoke on a stern tone.

Neji paled at his uncle's words. The thought of having to spend another week in his bedroom actually terrified him.

Hiashi seemed satisfied enough by Neji's expression. He took the scrolls from Neji's bed as if his nephew was a little child and lay them down next to the desk.

"Don't worry about your friend coming by; I'll wake you up when he is here." Hiashi said before leaving Neji alone.

Neji sighed as he lay down on top of his blankets. He was a bit tired he had to admit. He just hated that there was nothing else to do besides reading boring scrolls and sleeping.

God, he would be so lazy when he was finally allowed to get out of his room again.

But of course, Neji wasn't allowed to be lazy. So why not enjoy this chance to lay on his bed and simply rest?

* * *

'What the Hell!' Was all Neji could think as he felt hands on his shoulders. 'I'm finally resting and now someone is trying to wake me up?'

Irritated he pushed the hand on his left shoulder away. "I'm asleep," he muttered.

He really didn't feel like waking up now that he was comfortably nestled on the sheets of his bed.

"You sure are a difficult person to get out of bed.'

Neji frowned. Was that Shikamaru's voice? It couldn't be, his uncle had promised to wake him up before the boy would come over. Neji sighed and buried his head in his pillow.

"Are you sure you're not enjoying this week off?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow.

Was it just him, or was the long-haired boy acting like a little kid?

With a sigh of his own, Shikamaru sat down onto the bed.

Neji, still lying with his face buried in his pillow, could only wonder what Shikamaru was planning if he didn't sit up soon. But he was sure he looked like a mess and he just didn't feel like getting up already.

He could understand why Shikamaru lazed around a lot. It was actually quite nice to do nothing at all.

Meanwhile Shikamaru was thinking that he had actually looked forward to play another game of chess against the Hyuuga prodigy so he wasn't going to be disappointed. He finally had found an opponent who didn't lose after ten minutes of playing.

"Can I borrow a pillow?" He asked in a lazy tone. He smirked as Neji shot up with wide eyes and hair looking like a bird's nest.

"What?"

Neji didn't know how to take the words of the lazy ninja. He stared at the boy but as soon as he saw the smirk on his face he felt irritated.

Had he just been tricked into sitting up and showing he was fully awake?

Neji grumbled softly as he glared at the boy sitting in front of him. "_What_ do you want?" He asked.

"A pillow," Shikamaru deadpanned.

Neji raised an eyebrow. Was this guy joking? "What do you need a pillow for?"

Shikamaru smirked. It seemed that Neji was a good target for some jokes and pestering when just woken up. "To sleep, what else?"

This was getting out of hand, Neji decided. They were acting like little children and were, obviously, not.

"You wanted me to get out of bed," Neji said as he indeed got out of the bed.

"Yes, and you did," Shikamaru said sounding bored instead of proud.

With a sigh Neji rolled his eyes. He made his way to the only mirror in his room and took a good look at himself.

He frowned at his 'just-out-of-bed' look. He certainly wasn't the kind of person who could wear this and get away with this. He looked awful.

His hair looked like all the birds in Konoha had decided to have a party in it. His clothes were creased. He certainly had to change into another pair of pants and a new shirt wouldn't be a luxury either.

Neji turned to Shikamaru and said: "I'm going to change and do something about my hair." He said. He didn't care that he sounded very much like a woman and simply ignored Shikamaru's amused smirk as he made his way to the bathroom.

* * *

'I still look like a mess.' Neji concluded as he looked in the mirror.

His clothes were better with a simple t-shirt and a pair of grayish pants he normally wore when training.

His hair though… well, let's just say Neji even had had an urge to simply cut if off. Out of frustration he'd simply grabbed an elastic band and tied it all together in a tail.

He frowned as it looked a bit feminine though. Ah, it was just Shikamaru who was in the other room anyway.

Shikamaru though did raise an eyebrow as he saw Neji emerge from the bathroom. "The hairbrush won the battle I assume?"

Neji glared at his visitor. "Don't get cocky or I'll kick you out."

Shikamaru didn't say anything, simply gestured towards the chessboard.

Neji looked at the chessboard and frowned, thinking back at what his uncle had told him. "Hiashi will never let me leave my room again." He muttered, his words not intended for Shikamaru to hear but spoken too loud nonetheless.

"That's not true," Shikamaru said as he was already putting the pieces back onto their destined places on the board.

"And how, may I ask, would you know?" Neji asked as he pulled up a chair. The chessboard was placed onto his nightstand and Shikamaru was still sitting on the bed.

"I asked. And he said I could go ahead and wake you up, since you wouldn't listen anyway. Besides, playing chess would be much better than reading scrolls he said," Shikamaru explained. Then he looked at Neji with a smirk. "He just doesn't realize it is me you're playing against."

Neji laughed at the words. This was going to be a very interesting game.

About half an hour into the game both Neji and Shikamaru were having a hard time winning.

They were playing evenly well at the moment but Neji could already see that Shikamaru was probably going to win the game.

The other boy was just too smart. The reason why they were going even was because every attack Neji had planned was stopped by one by Shikamaru. He predicted almost every move Neji made and moved his pieces on a way so that Neji couldn't make the move he wanted to.

So five minutes ago Neji had decided to simply not try to plan his moves anymore when playing against Shikamaru.

"You're good." Shikamaru said as he looked at Neji.

Neji looked at Shikamaru and smiled gratefully. He was glad that Shikamaru considered him a worthy opponent. He wasn't going to get egoistic and claim he could win a game against the boy. "Thank you. But you're better as you must hear all the time."

Shikamaru chuckled. "Perhaps," he muttered. For a moment he seemed to gaze out of the window before turning back to the board again. "Ah," he said as he moved one of his pieces. "Check."

Neji, a bit shocked, looked at the board. He would really have to give everything he had if he wanted to win now.

But before Neji had a chance to think about a counter-attack, he could make someone knocked on his bedroom-door.

"Yes," he said, followed by a sigh.

This would probably be someone who was going to interrupt the game and tell him to lay down in his bed and sleep, or else…

To his surprise though, it was Hanabi that entered his room. A very happy Hanabi. Complete with a big grin and twinkling eyes. Neji immediately knew that something was going to happen.

"I guess uncle didn't send you to ask if I am willing to go to sleep. Am I right?"

While Neji asked his cousin what she was doing in his room Shikamaru was watching Neji converse with her with interest. He seemed very different from how he normally was when he talked to her.

"No, he didn't." Hanabi giggled. She moved from one foot to another and laughed softly.

"Hanabi…" Neji warned her.

"There's someone at the door for you." Was Hanabi's answer.

Being very able to calculate that one plus one was two, Neji paled slightly. He had that nagging feeling that he already knew who was at the door without Hanabi telling him.

Suddenly someone called out, loud enough for probably the entire compound to hear: "Neji, my Youthful rival, I have returned!"

Hanabi burst out laughing and Shikamaru could only look surprised.

All Neji could think was: 'Oh, Lee is back.'

**TBC.**

**Note:  
The next chapter will probably take a while. I'm going away on a three week trip and won't update during that time. So I expect to update again within two months. Sorry for the delay, but even authors need a rest sometimes…**


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer and warning in first chapter.

**Chapter 13**

If Neji was honest, he had to admit that he didn't have a clue on how to act now that Lee was standing in the doorway of his room.

Lee himself looked a bit uncomfortable too now that he was faced with Neji. Because the two hadn't seen each other since Neji fainted, this had left Lee in quite a shock.

Meanwhile Hanabi was looking from Lee to Neji and back again in excitement. She was thrilled to see what the outcome of this meeting would be.

She was almost, if not more, excited than Neji to find out if Lee was his secret admirer or not. She had been so excited to find that Neji finally cared a lot about someone that wasn't family and now she was going to find out if it was Lee or not!

Shikamaru though, didn't know what to think of this situation. He didn't know what had happened between Neji and Lee and he didn't understand why the girl seemed so excited.

He did feel the somewhat uncomfortable silence in the room and had a feeling he really wanted to leave. He looked at Neji and wondered if he could actually do that without the other guy having a nervous breakdown.

"I should leave," Shikamaru said as he stood up.

"Oh no, I didn't come here to scare you away!" Lee immediately exclaimed with a gesture towards Shikamaru. "I was merely wondering how my friend was doing because we parted so… unfortunately." Lee chose his words carefully as he turned his look to Neji.

Neji, for lack of a better reaction, simply nodded.

"But the two of you should talk!" Hanabi suddenly cried out and all looks turned to her. She smiled at Neji and walked towards Shikamaru. She grabbed the boy's hand and started dragging him towards the door.

Shikamaru simply sighed, muttering his usual: "Troublesome."

Hanabi chuckled and, before slamming the door close, informed both Neji and Lee that Shikamaru and her would be waiting on the other side of the door.

She also made it very clear if she didn't hear talking on the other side of the door, she would barge in again and smack Neji across the head.

Neji almost hoped that she would.

* * *

"So… how was your mission?" Neji asked a bit nervously when the door closed. He gestured for Lee to sit down onto the chair while he sat down onto the bed himself.

"It was good." Lee answered politely. He would just answer any question Neji asked him. He was a bit nervous himself to bring the subject of Neji's fainting up himself.

"So uh…" Neji fidgeted with his shirt. What should he do? He was at a total loss right now. If only the Hyuuga's taught their children how to interact with others, it would make a big difference he thought.

"I also spent some time on the market with Gaara! They have the most beautiful chess-boards in Suna. I'm sure you would love them, my Youthful friend." What Lee hadn't expected when he said it, was that Neji paled.

"Neji, is something wrong?" Lee asked worriedly.

Neji swallowed and gestured towards the board, now standing on his night-stand.

Lee looked at it warily and frowned. "It's a nice board."

"It's from Suna. The marble on it is specific to Suna," Neji said, trying to sound calm and wondering why Lee acted like he didn't understand what Neji was talking about.

"Really?"

"Yes, my secret admirer sent it to me. It arrived shortly before your return." Neji, from the confused look on Lee's face, was starting to doubt himself because Lee really did look as if he didn't have a clue about what was going on.

"But what does that have to do with me?" Lee asked. But after a second his eyes widened as everything clicked. "Oh," he muttered.

Neji could only stare at his friend, not knowing that Lee suddenly understood the situation quite well.

"Neji, I'm really sorry," Lee blurted all of a sudden. He hung down his head as he said it to show how sorry he was.

'What for, though?' Neji wondered.

Well, Neji could of course do some math and come to the conclusion which was quite obvious.

But he was a bit wary to actually do that.

It would mean that Lee wasn't his secret admirer and that all the inner turmoil and struggle to find out who it was would start all over again.

So Neji when he asked "Sorry for what?" was quite reluctant to actually do so. But he simply _had_ to know so he couldn't really stop himself from asking. It was now too late for that anyway.

Lee wanted to sigh. He resisted the urge to simply smile and say 'oh nothing, I just remembered something I had to do; Nothing to worry about, my Youthful friend.'

But this wasn't a joking matter, it was quite the complicated turn events and feelings had taken as words and actions were misunderstood along the way. Thus Lee had to think before he blurted something he really shouldn't.

"I'm sorry for making you belief I was your secret admirer." Lee muttered softly after a few uncomfortable silent moments.

Neji didn't know how to feel. He didn't know if he should feel relieved or upset.

His secret admirer wasn't Lee so now he could hope it was someone a bit less… Lee. But he was still hoping.

He still didn't know who it was. His heart would still flutter at every letter he received.

But it would be just that. He would just be the guy that had fallen in love with a few pretty words.

Now that he had been so close to knowing who it was he had been so excited. It was almost a different world and he really felt he appreciated people for who they were a bit more now. One would have to, if they sincerely believed Lee to be their secret admirer.

But in the end he still didn't know who his secret admirer was and that was the thing that upset him.

"N-Neji, are you all right? You look… upset." Lee asked softly.

He was worried that Neji was hurt by his words by the upset look that now crossed his face.

Neji blinked, startled out of his thoughts, and looked up at Lee. "I'm fine." He smiled weakly. "Just a bit upset perhaps."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I hope you weren't too keen on your secret admirer being me." Lee said. He hoped Neji wouldn't be heartbroken. He'd feel horrible if his friend turned out to be extremely sad by his revelation of information.

"Oh no it's not that!" Neji called out but immediately regretted it. He actually _said_ he didn't mind in the least that Lee wasn't his secret admirer.

Though from the relieved look that crossed Lee's face, he didn't seem to mind much.

"I was just hoping I finally found the person who claims to love me so much." Neji continued, sounding disappointed.

Lee smiled gently at his friend's words. "You're really fond of him, even though you don't know who it is."

"Yes, somehow that happened along the way."

"Do you love him?" Lee urged. He always treasured these kinds of moments with Neji since they were rare.

"Yes, I do." Neji admitted with a slight blush staining his cheeks.

Suddenly a loud squeal followed by the words "How cute!" reached Neji's ears.

With a sigh he hung his head down for a moment. How could he have forgotten Hanabi?

* * *

"So you're not in love with me?" Neji asked Lee while he handed him a cup of tea.

Hanabi had calmed down and Neji had sent her away. Shikamaru was actually quite amused by the entire situation as it turned out. He had been held hostage by Hanabi until the end and, so Hanabi said, complained endlessly.

Shikamaru left after swearing on whatever thing was important to him, to NOT talk about this with anyone else. With a shrug he had asked Neji what he saw him for. It would be too troublesome anyway.

Lee, with a small smile, took the tea from Neji. He chuckled and said: "No, I'm not in love with you."

Neji frowned for a second before a thought came to him. "What was asking how I would react if you told me you loved me all about then?"

"Ah…" Lee blushed slightly and scratched his head for a moment in embarrassment. "I-uh was doing research?"

'Research?' Neji thought. 'What for?' with a frown Neji started thinking about what it could be.

When Lee saw his friend smirk a few seconds later he gulped. 'He's figured it out!' run though his head.

"You were trying to find out what kind of reaction you could expect from someone."

"Ah, well -"

"Who is it?" Neji curiously inquired with a smirk.

Lee gave in with a sigh. Neji was his best friend and had helped him a lot without even knowing. He deserved to know who it was. Who knew, perhaps he could even help Lee!

"It's Gaara," he whispered. He wasn't embarrassed about it. He just felt weird talking to someone about it since he'd never done that before.

Neji was baffled. "Gaara?" he asked.

"Yes, Gaara."

"Erm, the same Gaara as the one from the chuunin exams?"

"Yes Neji, that Gaara," Lee deadpanned.

"Did your mind lock away the fact that he tried to _kill_ you?"

"No, it didn't. He didn't mean to," Lee had had this conversation a million times with himself. It was almost as if you were playing a game and all you had to do was repeat the same move, move the pawn.

"And I thought I had issues." Neji, quite uncharacteristically, blurted.

Lee raised an eyebrow at his friends' somewhat crude words. This seemed somewhat unlike Neji. Neji never displayed large forms of like and dislike, unless… "Neji, are you worried about me?"

Neji frowned for a moment, before saying: "For all you know the guy will try to kill you again and succeed. Yes, I'm worried."

Lee smiled at Neji. "Thank you," he said, grateful that Neji had become such a good friend. "But you don't need to worry."

"Why not?" Neji inquired as Lee suddenly looked a bit sad, almost regretful.

Lee shrugged. "I'm not going to tell him."

"Why not?" Neji asked, surprised.

"You fainted when I asked you how you would react."

"That is totally -" Neji started to protest but was interrupted.

"I know, it doesn't count. But you'll be hearing that for a very long time." Lee grinned. "But, I don't think he likes me, I don't think anyone does." Lee muttered dejectedly.

Neji was surprised. Lee was usually so happy and optimistic, had that been an act? Or was this just insecurity, which is quite common when one is in love. Neji did not know. But he did know that this was not the Lee he liked as a friend.

"Lee, you're a great person."

Lee raised an eyebrow at Neji's attempt to cheer him up. "Even you were glad I wasn't your secret admirer."

"That's…" Neji sighed. Of course that was true, but: "Maybe you are just not my type. Besides, picture us together as a couple and think about it."

Lee chuckled softly. "You're right. It would never work. Nor would any relationship I would start with Gaara. He lives too far away, has a too high position not to marry a woman and then there's still the fact he indeed tried to kill me."

Lee looked down to his hands, which lay now fisted in his lap. He had to resist the urge to cry. He was a man and this was Neji he was talking to, not Sakura!

But then again, "It would never work." He chocked, followed by a sob.

Lee wasn't crying. No, he was biting his lip in an embarrassing attempt to keep himself from bursting out in tears.

He'd had this conversation a million times with himself and never had he reacted this way. Was this because he'd held all of this too long to him? Recently even Neji, who many people thought incapable of any sort of feelings, opened up to him about his feelings regarding his secret admirer.

It always seemed that such conversations helped Neji understand his feelings better. So why hadn't he done that himself?

Because he was afraid of people's reactions, that's why. Everyone already thought he was strange, so what would they think if he told them he'd fallen for the one person that almost killed him?

Neji was at a loss.

Lee looked devastated and if he kept biting his lip any longer he would probably draw blood.

What could he do?

Neji wasn't the type to stand up, hug his friend and tell him things would be fine.

First of all, he wasn't a girl. And secondly, for all he knew things would be anything but fine.

'But perhaps,' Neji suddenly thought, 'he just needs the same thing I did.'

So Neji poured some fresh tea in Lee's now empty cup and smiled at his friend. "Why don't we start at the beginning." He proposed.

"What? Neji…" Lee murmured, unsure on how to react to this side of Neji.

"As you said, I'm worried about you. So talk about what's bothering you." Neji urged. "Talk about Gaara."

And so Lee did. He explained how he felt right after their fight. How he had thought about Gaara and felt bad for him.

How slowly his feelings grew after only just a few meetings.

He talked about Gaara's beautiful hair, skin and eyes and spoke with awe of his true strength.

Lee seemed to even get excited about things. But he was only talking about the good part and as soon as he came to the conclusion his feelings would never be returned he faltered.

"Why not tell him of your feelings? Only then you will know if they are returned." Neji asked.

"No," Lee spoke sadly, "I really can't."

"Why not, because you're scared?" Neji asked, but didn't wait for a reply. "I know someone like that besides you."

"Really, who?" Lee asked, curious all of a sudden.

Neji chuckled as he said: "I don't know yet. But you could always write Gaara a letter."

**TBC.**


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer and warning in first chapter.

**Chapter 14**

Neji watched with slight interest as Lee sat at the table, scribbling away enthusiastically.

Lee had taken Neji's advice to write Gaara a letter to heart. And while Lee was writing away cheerfully, Neji was pondering about his secret admirer again.

He sighed softly as, for what seemed like the millionth time since all of this started, he wondered who the mysterious writer could be.

There weren't many people left who could possibly fit the character displayed in the letters. If Neji were honest, no-one he knew fit the character his secret admirer.

He seemed so wonderful and out of this world that Neji couldn't possibly imagine who it could be. And that bothered him a bit.

Because he believed no matter who it was, Neji would be thrilled to be with that person. Slowly and gradually he had fallen in love with the person he didn't know, who didn't reveal anything about himself.

All Neji knew was that it was a man that loved him very much. A man that went through great trouble every time to write him a letter.

And above all, it was probably a man his uncle approved of which meant a lot to Neji.

But who could it be?

'He must be smart,' Neji thought. Because, a stupid person wouldn't be able to leave him letters like that without him noticing.

"Neji!" Lee called out suddenly.

When Neji looked up shocked, he was met with white paper pushed against his face.

When he grabbed the paper and put it down he saw Lee, fidgeting and blushing.

"Could you read it? I mean… ah, you have the experience with the letters." Lee asked, nervous and embarrassed.

Neji smiled, feeling honored that Lee would trust him with his letter. Because this letter was probably a look into Lee's feelings, which run pretty deep.

So Neji lifted the paper and with a small smile etched on his face started to read a very different letter than the ones he received from his own admirer.

* * *

Neji stood, watching with amusement as Lee stood in front of him, completely freaking out.

"What's wrong?" He asked with a smirk.

Lee stood still for a moment, looking at his friend with such an expression that Neji almost felt guilty for asking. Almost.

"It's Gaara." Lee answered. "H-he arrived this morning."

Neji smirked. He knew that, of course.

Because only three days after Lee had sent his letter to Gaara, the Kazekage of the Sand sent a notice to Konoha that he would be visiting the village to maintain the good relationship between the two villages.

Lee had been quite shaken up about it and still was. Although Neji didn't believe that all Lee felt was anguish because the love of his life was here… that would just be wrong.

"But that's good isn't it? That was what you were after, after all."

Lee looked at Neji, shocked. "What?" He uttered softly.

Neji frowned at Lee's reaction. "You didn't think that would happen?" He asked, surprised. "What else did you expect? It's Gaara we're talking about."

Lee fumbled with his fingers and shuffled his feet. "I… I don't want to see him."

Neji raised an eyebrow when he heard Lee's answer. "And why not?"

"As long as he doesn't know it's me who wrote to him, it's fine. He won't like me. And in front of him, I'm sure I can't keep my composure."

Neji glared at his friend as he finished talking.

"Then you shouldn't have written him a letter and you know it. You are just insecure because you don't know what's going to happen. Well, I don't know either. And I haven't known for a very long time now," Neji said and perhaps he was a bit harsh.

"You shouldn't give up on Gaara simply because you're insecure. If he loves you back, that means you are good enough," Neji said, on a softer tone now.

Lee grinned then and hugged his friend. "Thank you Neji. You are a wonderful friend!" he exclaimed happily.

Neji laid his hands on Lee's shoulders for a few seconds before shoving him away. "Well, that's enough all right? We're not girls," he said and Lee laughed.

* * *

"You are smirking."

Neji looked up from his book to see Shikamaru standing in front of him.

After a busy, hectic and somewhat hilarious past three days, Neji had been relieved to finally have found a few quiet moments for himself to enjoy his book.

However, the woods were also Shikamaru's silent sanctuary and Neji had not thought of that when he sat down against the oak-tree just a few hours ago.

"Is the expression on my face bothering you? If so, you simply shouldn't look." Neji told Shikamaru as he turned back to his book, still smirking but now for a totally different reason.

Neji found that he liked teasing Shikamaru.

The two of them had become friends ever since they played that first game of chess against each other. And even though Shikamaru was smart, he was a genius after all, the boy never seemed to respond to teasing properly.

Shikamaru would get embarrassed, laugh for a moment and with a slight flush ignore Neji's words.

Now though, Shikamaru simply chuckled as he sat down next to Neji. Their arms were touching, Neji noted. Not that such a thing was of any importance anyway.

"It's hard not to look at your face, Neji." Shikamaru said, as calm as he normally sounded minus his standard bored tone, after a few moments of comfortable silence.

Neji was surprised to hear Shikamaru say such a thing. Was the other boy actually teasing him? If he was, it would be the first time he ever did so.

Neji turned to Shikamaru with a small frown on his face. To his surprise Shikamaru was smiling. Not smirking, but really smiling.

When Shikamaru saw Neji look at him with surprise clearly showing on his face, he chuckled.

"What?" Neji asked.

"Nothing too bad." Shikamaru said and with a smirk continued: "It's just that the way people think of you is mostly formed on untruths."

Neji frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Everyone thinks you are vain, but you don't even recognize a compliment when it's laid out right in front of you."

Neji blinked and turned his gaze away from his friend. When he was with Shikamaru, he always found out so many things; mostly how others thought of him.

He already knew that most people thought he was a bastard, but people thought he was vain too? Well, he did take a huge liking to his hair but that was it, really.

"Do you think I'm vain?" Neji blurted. He didn't mean to ask that, really. And he knew that the moment he saw the amusement on Shikamaru's face as he turned back to him. But he couldn't take back his words now. That would only make him look foolish.

"No," Shikamaru answered honestly. "I think you're actually not that aware of how good people think you look."

Neji felt very flustered at hearing that. Did that mean that Shikamaru thought he looked good? The other boy could be so vague sometimes.

"Shikamaru…" Neji started. But what was he going to say? What did he want to ask? Neji didn't know, so he trailed off.

"Why don't you finish your chapter? We can go to lunch when you're done." Shikamaru suggested after a few moments of silence.

Neji turned back to his book with a small nod. Reading his book seemed somewhat boring now though.

* * *

Neji was quietly eating his miso ramen.

Lee was shifting uncomfortably in his chair, completely ignoring his own bowl with food.

Shikamaru was watching with a raised eyebrow at Lee and wondered what kind of teammate Neji actually had.

"Go talk to him." Neji said as he glanced at Lee.

"But -" Lee started to protest.

"No, go talk to him. You're getting annoying." Neji said, glancing at the red-head sitting at a table a few behind theirs. He was looking at them.

"Neji, no! And don't look his way, he might come to talk to us." Lee said softly as he pulled Neji's sleeve to make the other boy look at their table again.

Neji sighed in frustration. "Lee, you're acting like a teenage girl." Neji said and after that smirked. "Besides, you sent Gaara a love-letter and three days later he arrives in our village and you think he's here for business?" Neji laughed.

Lee's eyes widened and he gasped.

Even Shikamaru had the decency to raise an eyebrow in curiosity.

"W-what are you talking about?" Lee stuttered, a blush coming to his cheeks.

"Oh, it's obvious he has some idea who sent the letter," Neji said smugly and with no little amusement.

Lee paled and looked down. "Oh."

"Lee, are you blind?" Neji asked. Gods, this guy's self-esteem really was way too low. "Gaara can't keep his eyes off of you! It's obvious he's smitten by you."

Lee took a few moments to comprehend the information. He closed his eyes in thought and after a few moments opened them again, looking at Neji with a somewhat shy smile. "You think so?"

Neji nodded, trying to look as reassuring as possible. "Yes. So go talk to him."

"Neji…"

"He keeps looking at us. The least you can do is ask how he is doing," Neji pointed out. This would give Lee the perfect opportunity to have a decent talk with Gaara.

"Yosh, I'll do that!" Lee exclaimed excitedly all of a sudden. He stood up and with a wide grin made his way towards Gaara's table.

"Poor Gaara." Neji grinned. "He won't know what hit him."

"You and Lee are very different around each other." Shikamaru had been observing as the two friends conversed and he found it quite amusing. Neji got more and more civil the longer he talked to Lee. Whereas Lee calmed down and showed a very insecure side of himself.

"What?" Neji asked, turning towards Shikamaru.

"Oh, nothing really. You and Lee are very good friends, are you not?" Shikamaru asked with a slight smile.

Neji nodded. "Yes."

"How so? He doesn't seem the kind of person you would hang out with." Shikamaru asked.

Neji raised an eyebrow. "And how would you know?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Just saying what everyone is thinking."

"I never cared about how others think of me. Lee is a good person, a bit too eccentric sometimes I must admit. But he is a good friend nonetheless," Neji said, smiling slightly as he saw Lee fidget with his fingers and a blush on his face as he talked to Gaara.

Suddenly a thought came to him and Neji turned to Shikamaru with a frown. "Besides, why would you care? You're not known to follow gossip, or even indulge yourself in it."

"Che, troublesome." Shikamaru muttered. "You're my friend; of course I'd like to know more about you." Shikamaru explained after a few seconds.

Neji frowned.

"Sure," he said. But he didn't feel very satisfied with the answer for some reason.

* * *

It was now early evening. Dusk was settling in and Neji's room was getting darker with the minute.

But Neji didn't mind. He enjoyed the slight darkness as he sat in his window-sill, watching the compound get ready for the night.

The little children were hushed back inside, lights were lit and curtains closed.

Neji glanced at his nightstand and he felt a surge of happiness go through him again.

He had received another letter from his secret admirer. It had been short but bliss as always.

"_My dearest Neji,_

_If only you knew how much I long to hold you in my arms. How that longing gets stronger every day._

_You must have gone through a tiresome time. Guiding your friend and helping him confess his love. It makes me feel like a coward, realizing that I tell you of my feelings every time yet you haven't an idea of who I am.  
I long to wrap my arms around your waist, weave my fingers through your silky hair and murmur sweet nothings in your ears._

_As my longing is getting stronger, so is the want to be with you.  
It makes me wonder if you'll hate me. If you are disappointed I am not the person you hoped I would be.  
Thinking of meeting you fills me with happiness and dread at the same time. But I have the feeling I simply can't stay in the dark any longer._

_But if you ever doubt my love because I won't meet with you, be re-assured.  
I love you with my entire being and hope to soon be graced by your presence._

_With love."_

It had, as always, been a lovely letter. But it had sounded different than usual.

The letter was written with a note of desperation it seemed. Almost as if his secret admirer was tired of waiting.

Neji felt excited and giddy because of that.

Because it meant that he would probably meet his secret admirer soon. Although Neji had to admit he was quite nervous.

It was true what his secret admirer had written. Because even though Neji didn't have a face in mind, he could always be disappointed when he found out who it was. He didn't expect to be, but it could always happen.

It made him feel excited yet at the same time a bit reluctant now that a meeting with his secret admirer was coming so close.

But oh, how he longed for his secret admirer now.

The words he had written about wanting to hold Neji and whisper things in his ear made the long-haired boy shiver.

He thought of fingers threading though his hair, warm breath ghosting over his ears and a warm body pressed against his won.

Neji shivered and let out a shuddering breath. Yes, he was looking forward to meeting his secret admirer very much all of a sudden.

**TBC.**

**Author's note:**

Ah, this was such a fun chapter to write! I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it. Please let me know what you think of the story!


	15. Chapter 15

Warning and disclaimer in first chapter.

**Chapter 15**

Neji was glaring.

He had not consented to do this. He was not a father that was about to send his only daughter away to marry the man she loved.

He was a boy that liked boys and Lee was his _friend_, not his daughter. And Ten-Ten most certainly was not his wife!

Although judging from the smirk on Gaara's face, that was most certainly what the red-head was thinking.

He grumbled softly as he crossed his arms. This was just too ridiculous for words in his opinion.

"Neji, don't be like that." Ten-Ten scolded as she turned to look at him.

Neji sighed and obediently shut his mouth.

Normally he wouldn't really listen to the girl but she had been getting on his case for disturbing her talk with Lee and Gaara several times.

To start at the beginning…

A week ago Lee had finally gotten together with Gaara.

Lee had come to visit Neji when darkness had already settled in and Neji was getting ready for bed. But it was unusual for Lee to come by at such a late time of day so without questioning any further, he had let his friend in through his bed-room window.

Lee stood in his room, fidgeting with his fingers.

"I… I kissed Gaara," he had whispered bashfully.

Neji was shocked at that time. He still couldn't believe Lee actually had the guts to do such a thing.

But instead of appearing shocked, he just nodded his head.

"And?" he had inquired. That certainly couldn't be all Lee had wanted to tell him, he had thought.

Lee blushed as red as a tomato at Neji's inquiry.

"He was quite enthusiastic at kissing me back," he told Neji in a whisper.

Neji smirked at his friend's embarrassment. He could imagine such a thing happening.

Lee had been seeing Gaara a lot and this had made both the boys quite restless. Something like this was bound to happen and Neji couldn't be happier for his friend.

But that was now a week ago; a long week, in which Lee pleaded many times for Neji to keep Gaara and Lee's relationship a secret.

Lee simply wasn't ready to get his relationship out in the open yet and Gaara didn't care as long as he could be together with Lee.

But Lee had forgotten to notify his other teammate about his relationship with the Kazekage. Said teammate had not been amused when she had walked in on the black-haired, green-spandex-wearing boy making out with someone whom she then recognized as the bastard that tried to kill said friend.

Lee, stuttering and blushing furiously, had tried to explain the situation to Ten-Ten while Gaara was ready to murder the girl for interrupting his alone time with Lee. That was when Neji stepped in and after five minutes decided they should all go for a cup of tea.

"Neji, stop tuning me out. This is important," Ten-Ten said as she looked at him. Neji hadn't been listening to her and she was getting annoyed. Even worse, she was getting the feeling she had been left out on some pretty important information.

Neji sighed and looked at Ten-Ten. "No it's not."

"B-But…" The girl started to protest but Neji interrupted her.

"Lee likes Gaara. Gaara likes Lee. Starting a relationship _is_ the best step they can take," he deadpanned.

He understood what she was getting at. He had also thought it a problem at first that Gaara had to be the one that Lee liked. But what he thought about who Lee liked wasn't going to take away the fact that Lee liked that person. So why not be happy for his friend that he was loved in return then wallow over the fact the guy once tried to kill him.

They were ninja, it wasn't that big a deal.

Ten-Ten seemed to disagree with that though.

"B-but, he tried to kill Lee!" She cried out as she pointed her finger towards Gaara accusingly.

Gaara scowled at her and Lee looked down again.

"Gaara apologized for that," Lee muttered softly.

"Not to us." Ten-Ten stubbornly crossed her arms.

Neji shook his head with a sigh.

"Ten-Ten…" he started, but was very surprised when he was interrupted by none other than Gaara.

"I am sorry. I hadn't realized that I should apologize to you too," Gaara said, leaving Ten-Ten stunned. "But it seems like a good thing since you are good friends," he added as an afterthought.

"I apologize for trying to kill your friend. I would never dare to hurt him now," Gaara said, bowing his head slightly. Neji saw that Gaara sent a look towards Lee and that a small smile formed on his lips as Lee looked back at him with a smile too.

"A-ah…" Ten-Ten took a deep breath. "Well, thank you."

Neji smirked at his friends' uncomfortable gesture. Then he turned to Gaara again and nodded. "Thank you for your apology, but it was quite unnecessary. It is in the past and Lee forgave you. That's important."

"Neji, thank you!" Lee called out as he smiled brightly at his friend.

"You've become soft." Ten-Ten said with a smirk as she looked at Neji.

Neji simply shrugged. "You've tried for years to get me this far. Be proud, you finally succeeded," he answered.

Ten-Ten shook her head with a laugh. "We did try. But in the end I don't think Lee and I had something to do with your change." She said smugly.

Neji, understanding very well that Ten-Ten was hinting at the fact that ever since he received his first letter from his secret admirer he had started to change even more, simply shrugged with a small smile. He didn't mind all that much.

An hour or so later Neji sat alone at the table in the small tea-parlor.

Ten-Ten had left shortly after she had received an apology from Gaara since she had other business to take care of.

Lee and Gaara had stayed for another cup of tea before leaving to catch up on some quality time Neji didn't want to know about.

It was amusing to see that when around Lee, Gaara seemed to be less murderous and instead attempted to have a civilized conversation with someone. Lee simply had that effect on people.

With a sigh Neji lifted his cup and took a small sip of tea. He would enjoy this moment of silence for as long as it would last.

* * *

"Neji."

Neji looked up from his book as he heard his name being called. He saw Hanabi standing in the doorway and he nodded. "Yes?"

"There's someone here to see you." Hanabi said with a small smile, stepping aside as said person entered the room.

Neji raised an eyebrow as he saw his friend, leaning against the doorway with a lazy smile on his face.

"Hi," he drawled.

Neji snorted. "Normally people wait at the door for their host to arrive," he commented dryly.

He folded a dog's ear in his book and closed it. He looked at Shikamaru but the other boy simply shrugged.

"I'm not one to follow those kinds of formalities." Shikamaru answered. He thanked Hanabi for letting him in as he passed her when walking into the room.

Hanabi grinned happily and with a gaze and a small smile towards Shikamaru sauntered over to Neji.

She leaned her elbows on the back of the chair Neji was sitting on and looked at him with a smile. "Do you want a drink?"

Neji turned to her with a frown. "And you became so helpful when exactly?" he asked her.

Hanabi looked at Neji with a pout. "I'm always nice."

Neji smirked. "Sure," he said as he rolled his eyes. He didn't understand what sort of game Hanabi thought she was playing, but he wouldn't go along with it.

"Fine," Hanabi stepped away from the chair and with a huff crossed her arms in front of her. "I will just ask if Shikamaru wants a drink then since you're such a bad host." With that said Hanabi turned around and made her way towards Shikamaru, who had sat down in a chair.

All three participants of the room looked up though as a chuckle was heard from the doorway.

Hiashi was standing in there with Hinata by his side. "Why not make a pot of tea for everyone, Hanabi?" he asked with a smile.

Hanabi looked at her father and sputtered for a few moments. "B-but…"

"Thank you," Hiashi smiled as he walked to the chess-board that stood in the corner of the room, Hinata following him.

With an overdramatic sigh, Hanabi left the room to make a pot of tea as her father had requested. All she had wanted to do was hang out with Neji for a few moments and now she was stuck making tea for the entire family. Fantastic.

Shikamaru watched interested though as Hiashi grabbed a simple set of chess-pieces from the book-case. "Are you still learning the game, Hinata?" He asked. It was always nice to see a possible opponent in the game progress.

Startled Hinata looked up and with a small blush on her cheeks nodded. "Yes." She answered quietly.

Neji frowned and looked at Shikamaru. "How did you know?"

Shikamaru simply shrugged. "Just a guess," he said.

"Interested in a game, perhaps?" Hiashi asked Shikamaru but the boy shook his head.

"No, I've got other plans to spend my afternoon. But I will be sure to take that request later." He answered politely.

Neji looked at his friend with a frown. If Shikamaru had other plans for his afternoon, then why would he spend his time with Neji in the living-room of the Hyuuga-compound? Or perhaps Shikamaru's plans included Neji.

"Heh, you guessed right," Shikamaru said after studying Neji's face for a few moments.

Neji rolled his eyes. "Couldn't you just have asked me then?"

"Nah, less entertaining," Shikamaru said, sounding amused.

"So," Shikamaru started as he stood up and after that extended his hand to Neji with a smirk, "Shall we?"

Neji simply looked at the hand, at Shikamaru's face and with a smirk of his own stood up. "Sure." He said as he walked towards the hallway.

* * *

When walking down the street with Shikamaru Neji suddenly realized how stupid he actually was.

He was going to do something with Shikamaru and he didn't have a single clue what they were going to do and what this was all about. But he hadn't had any choice, right? It would've been very un-friend-like to tell Shikamaru off just because the boy came to pick him up at his house. Which Neji still thought surprising and unfit for Shikamaru's character but he let that slide.

He glanced at Shikamaru briefly before taking in their surroundings. They were in the woods. Was Shikamaru expecting him to be able to lie in the grass the entire day and stare at clouds? First of all, Neji was sure he was going to have an ache in his back if he was supposed to lean against a tree the entire afternoon. And secondly, clouds were nothing more than white sheep-like _things_ that contained water that would drop out at the most unfortunate times. Why would watching something like that for an entire day be interesting? Neji didn't understand.

"Shikamaru?" Neji asked for his friends' attention quietly. In his opinion he had wandered around, following Shikamaru like a puppy, long enough now.

"Yes?" Shikamaru answered, turning to Neji with an amused expression.

Neji sighed when he saw that. "You're having fun, aren't you?"

"No, why would you think that?" Shikamaru deadpanned, a smirk on his lips.

Neji rolled his eyes. "Don't have a clue. Where are we going anyway?"

Shikamaru chuckled at Neji's question. "Where do you think?"

Neji sighed. So he was going to cloud-watch the entire afternoon? What a waste of time…

"Is that all?" He asked. It wasn't that he had expected to do something… adventurous or something like that. He simply hadn't expected that Shikamaru would go through the trouble of picking him up at his home to simply watch clouds with him.

"No, that's not all." Shikamaru said as he turned to Neji. "But you'll just have to wait and see." He said with a smirk.

Neji frowned. Shikamaru had a surprise for him? How unheard of! And why would the other boy do that anyway? Neji sighed. "I'll take it you won't tell me anything more than the information you just shared."

"Heh, no." Shikamaru answered, standing still when they entered a clearing.

Neji, having graciously saved himself from a run-in with Shikamaru's back, looked around curiously. "This is where you hang out?" He asked.

He could understand that someone could spend their afternoon in this place. It was peaceful and silent so it was wonderful if you wanted to be left alone. But for Neji, who always had anything to do even if it was reading a book, it seemed rather dull to sit an entire afternoon in such a silent place as this.

Shikamaru simply looked at Neji, not answering his question. In his opinion it was pretty obvious that this was 'his' spot.

"So, what do we do now?" Neji asked, a bit impatient.

Shikamaru turned to Neji with a chuckle. He lay both of his hands onto Neji's shoulders and pushed the boy down until he sat on the ground. "We sit here for a while."

Neji frowned. "You're joking."

"No," Shikamaru said, eyes sparkling with amusement. "Just close your eyes."

Neji obediently closed his eyes. "And now?" he questioned, not because he thought because he could get anything out of Shikamaru, but just for the fun of it. Even though that wasn't something he normally did at all.

"Now you shut up," Shikamaru said calmly.

Neji chuckled. "Yes sir," He muttered.

After a few minutes, Shikamaru was standing again. He was looking up to the sky, basking in the afternoon sun. "It's not as bad as it seems now isn't it, Neji?" He asked with a small smile. His friend really should learn to appreciate the little things in life a bit more.

But when, after half a minute, he still hadn't received an answer from Neji he turned to look at the other boy.

To his surprise, Neji was still sitting against the tree with his eyes closed. He looked very child-like like that and Shikamaru laughed.

Neji was sleeping.

"Troublesome." He muttered.

**TBC.**


	16. Chapter 16

Warning and disclaimer in first chapter.

**Chapter 16**

Neji wrinkled up his nose as he felt something poke his cheek. With a tired yawn he waved his hand in an attempt to stop the poking. But when he felt the blade of grass tickling his nose, he sneezed softly. He opened his eyes slowly as he heard soft chuckles coming from his right.

He turned his head and with eyes that still showed some signs of sleep, looked at Shikamaru. "You woke me up," he said drowsily.

Shikamaru simply sighed and shook his head. He crossed his arms and pretended to be very offended. "I took you away from that boring room you call a living room for an entire afternoon and you fall asleep on me? You should be grateful I even bothered to take you with me."

When Shikamaru spoke, all Neji could do was watch him with a raised eyebrow. "What if I was actually looking forward to sitting in that chair the entire afternoon to catch up on my reading?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and sighed. "How troublesome," he said with a smirk as he settled against the tree again.

"Are we going to do something now?" Neji asked.

Shikamaru chuckled softly at Neji's inquiry. "No," he answered, amused.

Suddenly both boys startled slightly as they heard someone near them.

"Shikamaru Nara."

Both young men looked up as they heard the person call out.

Neji frowned for he didn't know who the person that was now standing in front of them was and what he wanted with Shikamaru.

Unlike Neji, Shikamaru sighed as he did recognize the person standing in front of him. He muttered a "troublesome" under his breath and frowned. "Yes?"

"The Hokage wishes to see you." The messenger answered.

"Che, troublesome. Can't she wait?" Shikamaru asked, his bored tone back all of a sudden.

The other person, a shinobi most probably, laughed for a second. "The question is not if she can but if she wants to." He then looked to Neji, who was now sitting against the tree with a frown on his face. The man smirked. "Or am I interrupting some precious time between you and your lover? I must apologize if I did."

Neji flushed when he heard Shikamaru and himself being referred to as lovers. "What?" he called out surprised as he immediately looked at Shikamaru.

Said boy was blushing and looked rather embarrassed. "We're not lovers," he said as he shot a look towards Neji.

But to Neji's surprise the boy looked away again quickly. 'And,' Neji wondered for a second, 'did I hear a tone of regret in his voice?'

But Neji didn't get a lot of time to ponder as the shinobi spoke again. "The Hokage called for you so you better go." He warned before leaving the two again.

Shikamaru sighed and looked at Neji with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

Neji smiled slightly and shook his head. "It's all right, it's not your fault. I can get back to my books now."

"We'll hang out some other time," Shikamaru promised and stood up. "See you," he said and with a small wave walked away.

* * *

"Neji, are you all right?" Hinata questioned softly as she looked at him worriedly.

When Neji had returned home after Shikamaru left he had been quite silent.

He had been thinking about what the messenger had said.

The way he had looked at Shikamaru and Neji with that suggestive look had made Neji feel uncomfortable. And then to say that he thought the two of them were lovers! It had confused Neji. 'Did we really look like lovers?' he wondered.

That was the thing that had been occupying him for at least an hour now. So it wasn't as if something was wrong, he was just confused, although he really did wonder if he wasn't taking the entire situation completely out of context.

"I'm fine Hinata." Neji answered his cousins' worried inquiry.

Hinata smiled as she sat down next to him in one of the kitchen chairs. "You look troubled though."

"I am just…" He started but then thought of something. "From an objective point of view, what would you say Shikamaru and I are?" He asked Hinata, sounding urgent.

Hinata looked surprised for a second before frowning. "I don't think I understand."

Neji sighed softly. Not to upset Hinata but more out of frustration with himself that he was even in this situation. He had never thought that Shikamaru Nara would ever be this… well, troublesome.

"Shikamaru and I were at the clearing he always hangs out when a shinobi came to inform him that the Hokage wished to see him. He… I didn't really understand why. But the man looked at me and then referred to us as being lovers." Neji paused for a moment.

Because there was also the fact that Shikamaru had been a bit disappointed when he had said they weren't going out.

Neji looked at Hinata and decided that even though she wouldn't gossip, he'd rather keep that bit of information to himself.

"So you want to know if I see the two of you as lovers or as friends?" Hinata asked.

Neji nodded, feeling a bit insecure all of a sudden.

Hinata giggled. "It depends on how you look at it I guess. You are pretty close so if you don't know you two are friends, one could assume you could be lovers."

Hinata paused for a moment. "But it is rather straightforward of someone to immediately assume two males to be in a relationship."

Neji nodded. That was true. Most people could perhaps assume such a thing but never say it out loud. So indeed that had been rather brash.

"But… there's nothing wrong with our friendship?" Neji seriously hoped that Hinata would say there was nothing wrong. Neji didn't really feel like having a chat with Shikamaru whether or not their friendship was normal.

"Of course there's nothing wrong, every friendship is different anyway. Besides, you would know if something was wrong, right?" Hinata offered her advice with a small smile.

Neji nodded. Hinata was right. He had simply been overreacting again.

But after a few seconds Neji sighed. There still was that regretful tone Shikamaru had spoken in.

Could he just forget that and write it off as something he had misheard? He didn't know if that was the best thing to do, but it was the most convenient.

"Neji, are you sure you're all right?" Hinata suddenly interrupted his thoughts and Neji looked up again.

"Yes, I'm fine." He answered with a small smile. And indeed, everything was fine.

* * *

Neji lay on his bed with closed eyes. He was breathing softly, enjoying the silence.

Suddenly he heard a soft creak coming from his window.

Neji frowned. He really should ask someone to take a look at that window. When only the slightest breeze would pass it would creak and it disturbed him sometimes.

"Are you sure you are a shinobi?" someone suddenly whispered very close to his ear.

In shock Neji opened his eyes and with a silent gasp he sat up, immediately looking to his right as he reached for his weapons.

Neji's eyebrow twitched and he scowled as he saw Shikamaru squatted besides his bed with a smirk on his face.

The boy laughed softly as he saw Neji's expression. "I got take-out as an apology for this afternoon." He said, holding up a bag which was apparently filled with food.

Neji, still slightly irritated and stunned by the way Shikamaru had gotten into his room, but yet curious to what kind of food the other had gotten him, breathed in deeply.

He didn't smell that much unfortunately.

"What did you get me? And how did you get in here anyway?" Neji asked with a frown as he sat up.

"You should tell your uncle that during dinner-time no-one is watching the compound." Shikamaru said, sounding actually pretty proud of himself.

Neji sighed. Of course, if there was someone to notice such a thing it was obvious it would be Shikamaru. The boy would even notice if a button was sewed on with the wrong color.

"Of course," Neji muttered softly. "What about the food?" he asked curiously.

Shikamaru chuckled softly as he stood up again. "Let's eat it outside," he offered as an answer.

Neji raised an eyebrow. "It's half dark already. There are no clouds to watch."

"But there will be stars," Shikamaru said with a shrug.

Neji shook his head and in mocked disappointment said: "You are unbelievable."

With a laugh Shikamaru walked towards the window. "It gets me through the day without boring me."

"I guess it takes a boring person to enjoy boring things," Neji told his friend and he chuckled.

"Boy, are you funny." Shikamaru shot back dryly as he shook his head.

"Now, shall we leave?" Shikamaru asked as he now stood by the window.

Neji raised an eyebrow. "And you want me to sneak out of my own home because?"  
Shikamaru sighed and had a happy twinkle in his eyes as he looked Neji in the eye. "Neji, Neji, Neji… has no-one ever told you that this is a thing people generally call adventurous?"

"Well," Neji said as he put on some shoes and then slowly made his way towards Shikamaru. "I am terribly sorry that my idea of adventure seems to be quite wrong. But please lead the way to an exciting life of sneaking out of my own un-guarded compound." He dead-panned.

All Shikamaru did was laugh as he climbed out of the window.

* * *

Dinner was dango, and Neji's favorite kind at that.

Neji was quite surprised when Shikamaru had showed him a bento filled with bocchan dango. Besides his family, there was no-one that even knew that Neji liked dango. "You made dango?" he asked his friend with surprise.

Shikamaru shook his head with a smirk. "No, I bought dango. Too troublesome to make it myself."

Neji chuckled softly. It was so like Shikamaru to answer like that. Would the boy have been a bit more outgoing and egoistic he would have bragged that he had indeed made Neji dango. But instead the boy openly admitted he didn't think Neji was worth the trouble of actually cooking something.

Neji smiled as he realized he was just fine with that. If Shikamaru had cooked for him, he would've freaked out for sure. Now that would be weird.

"Why did you buy dango anyway?" Neji asked with a raised eyebrow. Had Shikamaru simply guessed that Neji liked dango or was there something else behind it?  
Shikamaru grabbed the other bento and held it out to Neji with a smirk. "Because they didn't have enough sushi for two," he said as Neji obediently took the bento from him.

Neji grinned happily as he lifted the lid off of the bento. This couldn't be true! He got to eat sushi and dango all in one evening? He couldn't be happier.

Because unknown to many, Neji loved good food. He savored the taste and was very specific in his likes and dislikes.

"So, apology accepted?" Shikamaru asked Neji after a few moments.

Neji laughed. "There wasn't any needed. But if you feel you have to bribe me with food, I will say 'yes' for the effort you went through. Because I know it must've been so _troublesome_." Neji finished with a smirk.

Shikamaru shook his head. "I went through all of this trouble and you give me that kind of answer."

"Yes, what a terrible friend I am." Neji shot back sarcastically.

He loved how Shikamaru said what came to his mind. He didn't hold back and when he was dissatisfied with something everyone would know. Neji respected that kind of honesty. Because why would you pretend when telling the truth would save you lots of trouble?

Shikamaru laughed at Neji's reply. "Yes," He said as he stretched his arms, folded them behind his head and then laid down onto the roof they were both sitting on. "The worst."

With a soft laugh Neji lay down next to Shikamaru. He looked up at the now dark sky.

"Why are we on the rooftop of the Academy anyway?" He asked after a few minutes. This whole star-gazing thing really wasn't for him.

"No-one comes here after lessons end," Shikamaru answered without looking at Neji.

Neji hummed softly as a sign he had heard his friends answer. "You know -" He started but was quite surprised when Shikamaru interrupted him.

"It is impossible for you to not talk for half an hour, isn't it?" Shikamaru asked as he turned to look at Neji with a raised eyebrow. He didn't mind Neji interrupting his silent moments all that much. He was just curious how a boy that everyone thought so composed didn't seem to be able to shut up.

"Your boring hobby makes even _me_ talkative, go figure." Neji teased with a laugh.

"Well then," Shikamaru said as he sat up again. "Then let's go home if I bore you."

Neji looked at Shikamaru with a raised eyebrow before standing up with a shrug. "Sure, I'm in the mood for a game of chess anyway."

But Shikamaru simply chuckled as he turned around to look at Neji with an amused expression. "Who said anything about chess?"

**TBC.**


	17. Chapter 17

Warnings and disclaimer in first chapter

**Chapter 17**

Neji was smiling smugly as he walked home, Shikamaru by his side.

He wasn't so childish as to actually feel proud of himself that he had gotten Shikamaru to leave his star-gazing for whatever it was and went with Neji to do something much more enjoyable.

No, Neji was simply satisfied that he didn't have to lay on a cold roof any longer than he already had. Not that his one-on-one time with Shikamaru had been boring. The other boy always knew the right things to say to start a nice conversation or witty discussion about something completely ridiculous.

"You are unusually silent all of a sudden." Shikamaru said all of a sudden.

Neji glanced at him and smirked. "I got what I wanted, didn't I?" He said, unable to hide his smugness.

"You almost sound like a woman." Shikamaru answered with a smirk.

Neji, slightly irritated to be compared to a female, raised an eyebrow. "I could always hit you, and I can assure you I don't hit like a woman," he threatened.

Shikamaru simply snorted and kept walking.

"Do you always enjoy chess this much?" Shikamaru asked after a few moments of silence.

Neji frowned. "No, not really. Why do you ask?" he asked.

"I don't know. You always ask if we can play chess so I got curious." Shikamaru explained with a shrug.

Neji frowned at this. It was true that before he had gotten his new chess-board he hadn't been as interested in the game as much as he was now. But then again, he also had a good opponent now.

"Change of routine, I guess." Neji said with a shrug. Because why let Shikamaru know that he was part of the reason that Neji enjoyed the game now more than say half a year ago? That would only unnecessarily raise the other's ego.

"Heh, if you say so." Shikamaru said with a smirk.

Neji shot him a look and couldn't help but shake his head. That boy really was way too smart.

"So, you want to play chess or did you have anything else in mind?" Neji asked when they arrived at the gates of the Hyuuga compound.

He turned around to look at Shikamaru only to see the other looking at him with a thoughtful look.

Neji frowned at that but waited patiently for a few seconds for Shikamaru to answer.

When the other didn't answer Neji took a slight step forward and tilted his head to the side as he stared at Shikamaru. "Is it even possible for someone to fall asleep standing with their eyes open?" he asked teasingly.

But to Neji's surprise Shikamaru laid his hands onto Neji's arms almost gently. Neji blinked, looked at the hands and then at his friend with a slight frown marring his features. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

Shikamaru looked somewhat nervous and Neji wondered what could have caused that. It wasn't like the other boy to be nervous about a lot of things because nine out of ten times he simply didn't care.

"Shikamaru?" Neji called out softly when his friend didn't react to his question. Shikamaru was looking at him and not answering… Neji didn't know what to think.

Could the other be feeling sick? 'No, that's ridiculous.' Neji corrected himself. But what else could it be? 'Maybe he has something important to say and doesn't know how to start.' Neji thought.

All right, he could deal with that. He had helped Lee through his entire ordeal with Gaara, so helping Shikamaru shouldn't be all that hard, right?

Neji smiled, or attempted to as he still felt a little uncomfortable that Shikamaru was holding his arms, and offered: "We can go inside if you want to talk about something."

But to Neji's surprise, Shikamaru shook his head. He took a breath and with a small flush on his cheeks looked at Neji. "No, I'm fine," he answered. "I should be going home."

Neji blinked. All right, something was seriously wrong with Shikamaru and the other boy was avoiding whatever was wrong.

When Neji looked up to Shikamaru he frowned. Had the boy gotten closer to him or had he been this close the entire time? Neji's eyes widened as Shikamaru moved closer to him and all he could think was: 'What the hell?'

Neji froze as he felt soft lips press against his own. His heart beat violently in his chest as it dawned upon him that they were actually Shikamaru's lips that were kissing his.

Neji felt a bit scared, slightly excited and very confused. The fleeting thought that Shikamaru's lips felt really good and softer than he would have expected crossed his mind too. But other than stand still and try to sort out his racing thoughts, Neji did nothing.

Then again, it was over in a matter of seconds even though it had felt like ages to Neji and not in a bad way.

But before he got a chance to ask Shikamaru what was going on, to do _anything_ else than imitate a fish on dry land, Shikamaru was gone.

* * *

After Shikamaru had kissed him, Neji's mind had somehow short-circuited, leaving Neji in a slight state of shock.

He didn't know what to think or what to do. He wanted to run after Shikamaru, push the other somewhere so he couldn't leave and demand what that kiss had meant.

No, even Neji knew what a kiss meant. But what he didn't know was why Shikamaru had kissed him.

How deep ran the feelings the other had for him? It was quite unbelievable that Shikamaru loved him. And also, was Shikamaru his secret admirer?

But it wasn't like Shikamaru to go through the trouble his secret admirer went through. Because wouldn't that just be troublesome to the other?

But his secret admirer wasn't the most important person right now. Shikamaru was.

But how did Neji feel about Shikamaru? Since it was obvious the other boy fancied him.

Neji had to admit that he didn't have a clue what his exact feelings were. Shikamaru was his friend and he had never considered him as anything more than that. So to suddenly think of someone in a total different way was very difficult and confusing to Neji right now.

With a sigh Neji lay down onto his bed. He was too tired and his thoughts were too jumbled to think straight right now.

So maybe it was better for his health if he went to bed now. Since Neji wasn't planning on staying in bed yet another week due to lack of sleep. Neji sighed as he thought of his uncle and his over-protectiveness. Perhaps it was time he moved out.

Slowly he made his way to his small bathroom. He looked in the mirror and studied himself for a few moments.

He sighed softly. He looked as tired and confused as he felt right now. What a confusing evening this had turned out to be…

When Neji was standing next to his bed in his sleeping-wear he grabbed his outfit and walked towards the laundry-basket that stood next to his wardrobe. He threw the top in the basket but checked the pockets of his pants first before throwing that piece of clothing in the basket too.

Neji had been taught at an early age that if he didn't want to lose whatever he left in his pockets he should have it removed before disposing of the clothes in the laundry-basket.

His catch of today was some small change and a few neatly folded pieces of paper.

After having dropped his pants in the basket Neji walked to his bed, frowning at the small pieces of paper. Strange, he didn't know when that had ended up in his pocket.

Neji sat down onto the bed and unfolded the papers. He was slightly nervous and yet felt his heart flutter at the same time.

He took a deep sigh before taking a look at the papers he now held in his hands. It was a letter.

When he read the first words his eyes widened and he gasped. 'No way…' he thought, before he was wholly engrossed by the letter.

"_My Dearest Neji,_

_You are without a doubt the most incredible person I have ever met and I am honored you think of me as a friend. Or, dare I hope, a lover.  
I know that flattery will not get me any closer to your heart this time. Because even I realize that this will be the last time I will grace you with one of my letters._

_I remember the day I fell in love with you, no matter how corny that may sound.  
No, it was not the day you fought Naruto, although I did notice you then. I wondered who that beautiful, strong person was. I didn't give it all that much thought though.  
It also wasn't during our mission to bring Sasuke back. Even though you did scare me to death that time, I did not consider you anything more than a friend.  
I fell for you at one of the most casual moments I have ever seen you in. I think it is magnificent how your complete exterior changes the moment you are with one of your cousins, particularly Hanabi.  
Hanabi is, as I have seen for myself, quite a cheerful and strong-willed girl. It is thus very understandable that even you find it impossible to deny her anything.  
But when I saw you and her standing in front of the candy-booth at the carnival the Hokage had arranged half a year ago, I could not help but linger.  
It was such an amusing sight to me. Neji Hyuuga, quarreling with his little cousin over a candy-cane. But to my amazement you did not scold her.  
Your eyes softened and you smiled. That was when I fell in love. The world seemed to disappear and all I could do was wish you would smile at me like that. With such gentleness and affection in your eyes, a slight blush on your cheeks. You looked breathtaking, simply gorgeous.  
It was also then that I realized you are not what everyone makes you out to be. Because, when given the chance, you are gentle. When relaxed, you are fun and laidback. When around people you care about, you glow.  
You are honest and faithful and I know now that you would never give up on the people you care about, because they have never given up on you.  
You, Neji Hyuuga, are a beautiful person on the outside but you are not just looks. Because, if that is even possible, you are even more beautiful on the inside.  
It is no wonder that I fell for you and I praise myself lucky I do not have to fight tons of other people for your affection._

_But after many months of watching you silently, a thought struck me. A frightening thought that showed me the future had I kept my mouth shut for all of eternity.  
It was a lonely future without you and that shocked me. Not because there was a possibility of you not being by my side but because I hadn't even spared a thought to that.  
Thus the idea came to me to let you know of my feelings towards you. But what would your reaction have been had I walked up to you and bared my heart?  
You probably wouldn't even have considered going out with me at that moment. Because I am a male and Hyuuga's do not date males, am I right?  
So there was only one opportunity left for me. To woo you and make you fall in love with me without the knowledge of who I am and of what gender.  
It warms my heart thought, that even though you know I am male you still chose to be wooed by me. You still allow me to sweep you off of your feet._

_I hope that at the end of this letter you will fully understand how deep my feelings for you run. That I love you with all that I am and, if I ever have to, I would even die to save your life. Because you are so very precious to me.  
I also hope that when you find out who I am, if you haven't already, that you have made up your mind about your feelings.  
Because I do not wish to leave you in the dark. I do not wish to confuse you about your feelings. I merely wish for you to love me even half as much as I love you._

_Words do not even begin to explain how anxious I felt when I wrote my first letter to you.  
I had so much to tell you, yet felt that if I told you everything at once I would scare you away for sure.  
That little "get well soon" card took me so long to write. Three simple words yet it had taken me almost half a day to decide what to write and what flowers to send you.  
Because I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted you to be curious and a little thrilled at receiving flowers from an un-known person._

_And seeing as I am now writing you a final letter it seems that I succeeded in drawing your attention.  
I do hope that I also succeeded in gaining your love though. Because that, to me, is now the most important thing._

_I hope to meet you tomorrow when the sun sets. I will not tell you the place since when you have finished the letter you will know where to go.  
There I will wait for you. Wait for you to come to me with an answer to the only question I have for you: Did I succeed in capturing your heart, Neji Hyuuga?_

_With love,  
Shikamaru Nara."_

**TBC.**

Hihi, exciting isn't it?  
Let me know what you thought of this new revelation!  
Love, China Dolly


	18. Chapter 18

Warning and disclaimer in first chapter.

**Chapter 18**

Neji was nervous and he was anxious and acting like a total girl because of it.

The entire day Neji hadn't been able to do anything that involved even the slightest bit of concentration.

He had tried training but all he could think of had been Shikamaru. After that, he decided perhaps reading something would ease his mind, but after reading the same page for the third time without knowing what was said in the page, he had also given up on reading.

Neji had spent the remaining time of his afternoon lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about Shikamaru.

Shikamaru, his best friend, had been wooing him the past two months.

Neji hadn't been able to sleep all that much last night. He had pondered about what _he_ thought of Shikamaru. He had tried to imagine what it would be like, being together with Shikamaru as a lover instead as a friend.

The result had startled Neji.

Because, unlike he had anticipated, Neji found it relatively easy to picture himself in a relationship with Shikamaru. He did find it hard though, to estimate what Shikamaru would be like. Since at the moment, the boy he had always known as his friend was the same person he knew as an utter sap and romantic.

Neji had to admit he was at a slight loss when it came to imagining those two as the same person.

Neji also found it quite hard to put a definite finger on his feelings. Because combining the friendship he felt for Shikamaru and the slight feelings of love he held for his secret admirer wasn't easy. His feelings were jumbled and Neji felt that he couldn't see the forest for the trees.

After deliberating on what to do for almost the entire afternoon, Neji came to the conclusion that it was best to visit Shikamaru.

* * *

"Neji, you look fine."

Neji glared at his uncle with a small flush of embarrassment. Why did the man have to choose _this _moment to come to his room? And why did he have to say such embarrassing things?

Hiashi simply smiled as he stepped into the room. "Well wasn't that what you wanted to hear?" He asked as he sat down on Neji's bed.

Neji sighed and turned around to look at his uncle. "I…" he started but fell silent. He then shrugged and turned back to the mirror. "Never mind," he said as he studied his reflection again.

Hiashi chuckled softly at his nephew's obvious uneasiness. "Neji, let me tell you this. It will be fine."

Neji raised an eyebrow as he looked at his uncle. Was the man really trying to calm him down? Neji sighed. "But…" he started to protest, but his uncle didn't give him a chance to finish.

"At least you already know how he feels for you. That must ease your nerves quite a bit."

"But… it is kind of unfair. Because I don't know for sure how I feel," Neji said. On the one hand, he was looking forward to seeing Shikamaru but on the other hand, he was a bit frightened of what his feelings turned out to be.

"I am sure Shikamaru doesn't expect you to be head over heels for him," Hiashi told Neji in a calm voice.

"But he _is_," Neji cried out, almost desperately. He found it quite unnerving to speak with someone that was very much in love with you even when you yourself didn't know for sure how to respond to those feelings.

"That only makes the process a bit easier for you, doesn't it?" Hiashi offered with a small smile.  
"But I don't want to hurt him…" Neji said softly, looking away from his uncle. This was getting way too embarrassing.

"Well, there's a good start. It shows you care, right? Don't worry Neji, things will work themselves out. Just don't think all that much and follow your heart."

Neji raised an eyebrow at his uncle's advice. The man was telling him not to think? Well, that was something new.

But that didn't mean that the man was talking complete nonsense of course. Because if Neji were to think, seeing Shikamaru would be a bad idea entirely. There were too many things that could go wrong and always a possibility either of them would be hurt.

But not going to see Shikamaru meant betraying the other boy, no matter how you looked at it and that was the last thing Neji wanted to do.

Because Neji wanted to get closer to Shikamaru. He wanted to get to know the boy in another way than he had until now. He wanted to be _sure_ of his feelings instead of guessing. And the only way to do that was to see and speak with Shikamaru. No matter the risks.

Neji started when he felt Hiashi's hand being laid upon his shoulder. He looked up and saw his uncle smiling at him.

Neji, instead of smiling back, asked: "And what is this?"

Hiashi chuckled softly before saying: "Shut up Neji, this is our father-son moment for the next ten years."

* * *

Figuring out where Shikamaru would be 'hiding' hadn't been all that hard. There was only one place where the boy would be that only Neji knew about after all.

Neji took a nervous breath as he neared the clearing. His heart was beating so fast Neji was afraid Shikamaru would hear it, which was stupid of course but he couldn't help but feel that way.

Neji shook slightly with anticipation as the clearing came into view. He stood still the moment he caught sight of Shikamaru.

The boy was sitting in the middle of the clearing, cross-legged and his back facing Neji.

Neji was quite sure that Shikamaru already knew he was there but took the moments the boy wasn't looking at him to study the other's form.

He was tense, Neji noted with a small smile of satisfaction. He was relieved he wasn't the only one that was nervous about this.

He was also very glad that he had already thought of what to say on his way to the clearing. It had seemed incredibly stupid just a few minutes back but Neji was relieved that right now he didn't have to think about what to say.

If he had to do that too, next to slowly figuring out his feelings and trying to get over his nerves to finally step into view, he was sure he would turn around and run away.

Because Neji was sure that if someone were to stand behind him and call "boo" in an attempt to scare him, he would surely faint.

Neji took a shuddering breath as he closed his eyes. Shikamaru still hadn't turned around which could only mean one thing. The boy wanted Neji to speak first to test him.

It _was_ kind of like Shikamaru to do such a thing of course. But Neji thought it understandable that Shikamaru didn´t only want to be sure of his own feelings, but also of Neji´s feelings for him.

Neji took one last deep breath, opened his eyes and walked forward slowly. He took his time to walk to the middle of the clearing and after a few moments he stood still in front of Shikamaru.

But Shikamaru did not turn. He just sat still, softly breathing and Neji closed his eyes for a moment.

Because this was it. Now was the moment in which things would change between them, forever. He opened his eyes and looked at the boy´s back.

"So now that you feel you're done with chasing me you let me chase you? How untactful." He teased the other boy, trying to get the other to turn around.

He heard Shikamaru chuckle at his words. His shoulders moved slightly upwards and downwards again and Neji couldn´t help but smile slightly. He was glad the boy was having a moment of fun.

"I've been called a lot, but tactless has never been one of those things." Shikamaru responded. But still he did not turn.

Neji raised an eyebrow at this. Here he stood, more nervous than he had ever been and Shikamaru refused to turn around to speak with him properly? He didn't know what exactly to think of it but he was a bit offended.

"You know, if our first proper date is going to be me talking to your back I don't think this relationship will even get off of the ground. Because if I want to be ignored completely I will just sit in my room and talk to my wall. Of course this offers a much better view than my wall ever could. Unless you are willing to pose for a photograph for me." Neji said, obviously teasing the other boy because he wouldn't turn around.

But in reality, Neji was particularly begging the other boy to turn around with his words.

Of course Neji understood that the other was nervous too. He also knew quite well that Shikamaru had so much more reason to be anxious than him.

But Shikamaru had to understand that Neji wasn't the kind of person one could invite to come to a certain place and then ignore him.

But Neji didn't have to wait long before Shikamaru turned around. The boy was frowning and his eyes seemed wider than usual.

For a few moments Shikamaru simply looked at Neji. He then smiled a small smile and cocked his head slightly. "You said 'our first proper date,'" he murmured softly.

Neji's eyes widened. Not because of what Shikamaru had said, but because of how the boy looked while talking.

Because Shikamaru didn't look a lot like the Shikamaru Neji knew. Shikamaru normally looked either bored or blank.

But right now his features had softened and he had a somewhat glassy look in his eyes. His cheeks were flushed slightly and Neji thought he looked breathtaking.

He wondered for a few seconds if this was what a person in love looked like because he could only hope to see this expression a lot more often.

"Neji…"

Neji started as he heard Shikamaru call out to him softly in a gentle tone. He looked at the boy and blushed. "Yes?"

Neji had to admit that he felt stupid. He had thought of so many things he wanted to tell Shikamaru. How he wasn't quite sure yet about his feelings but thought he was in love. How he wanted so bad to get to know Shikamaru better on a much more intimate level, and he wasn't talking about getting physical with the other.

But all he could do right now was stand still, listen to what Shikamaru was going to say with a blush on his cheeks. He found that little fact very annoying.

"Neji…I--" Shikamaru started but faltered after a few moments. He looked down for a few seconds and took a deep breath. He laughed softly and looked up at Neji again. "I feel as if I've taken all of my feelings and dumped them upon you, leaving you in some sort of shock. I apologize for that."

Neji felt his heart flutter at Shikamaru's honest words. But when he wanted to speak and assure Shikamaru that it was all right, the other spoke again.

"But I am sincere and the past few weeks I've been so anxious about how you felt for me. So tell me please, Neji Hyuuga, did I succeed in capturing your heart?" Shikamaru sounded a little desperate and he looked Neji in the eyes as he finished speaking.

Neji bit his lip softly. He wanted to explain his feelings to Shikamaru so badly, but he wasn't sure how he felt himself. Neji thought it unfair that he now told Shikamaru he didn't know what exactly he felt. But on the other hand, it would be even more unfair if Neji didn't tell him anything.

But had Shikamaru succeeded in capturing his heart? "As my secret admirer you have." Neji told Shikamaru softly as he looked at the other with a small smile.

"Every time I received a letter or even thought about my secret admirer I felt my heart flutter, I felt so happy." Neji smiled gently as he thought back at receiving a letter. He had never known that loving someone could feel that good.

"But, you are not just my secret admirer. You are also my friend." Neji said, breaking his eye contact with Shikamaru by looking down. "And even though you look good and I think you're a wonderful person, you are my friend."

Neji shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts. "I am confused. My secret admirer was never you, you two were different persons. So to suddenly picture the two of you as the same person…" Neji hesitated.

He wouldn't go as far as to say that he didn't love Shikamaru. But to say that he loved the boy would be a rash decision to make too. "I'm confused right now. I am not sure of my feelings." Neji whispered. "But I do know that I care an awful lot about you." Nervously Neji gazed up at Shikamaru.

The other was smiling. Not as happily as he had wanted to perhaps, but he was smiling nonetheless. And it warmed Neji's heart to know that Shikamaru wasn't disappointed in him.

Neji started and looked up with a flush on his cheeks as he felt one of Shikamaru's hands being laid gently onto his shoulder.

"Neji," Shikamaru spoke softly as he reached out with his other hand to gently caress Neji's cheek, combing his hair away from his face with a happy smile.

"I had of course hoped you to be in love with me. But even I know that wouldn't happen." Shikamaru sighed.

"But if I can make Neji Hyuuga fall in love with a person he has never seen or spoken to, making you fall in love with me will be a piece of cake." Shikamaru laughed.

Neji chuckled at Shikamaru's words. "I'll be honored to be swept off of my feet by you." He murmured softly.

"Ah, don't say such things." Shikamaru whispered as his fingers softly traced Neji's lips. "Don't tempt me to do things I might regret."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "Would you regret kissing me? It's too late for that, don't you think." He mocked the other with a playful smile.

Shikamaru looked a bit surprised at Neji's words. "You wouldn't mind…" He murmured in a surprised tone, his eyes fixed on Neji's lips as he trailed off.

Neji smiled slightly as he lifted up his hand to gently touch the wrist of Shikamaru's hand that was still caressing his face. "What better way to make me fall in love with you?" He teased.

He then smirked and said: "Besides, after all of your hard work I think you should be rewarded with at least one kiss, shouldn't you?"

Shikamaru presented Neji with a smirk of his own before licking his lips, probably from nerves. "Don't mind if I do then." He whispered.

Shikamaru's gaze wandered down until his eyes rest on Neji's lips. He looked up again until their eyes connected.

His hand moved to the side of Neji's head, the other leaning slightly into the touch, and with a satisfied smile Shikamaru leaned forward to place his lips gently over Neji's.

Neji closed his eyes in anticipation and gasped softly as Shikamaru finally kissed him.

To Neji, it was an amazingly intimate feeling to kiss someone and he was reeling slightly about how good it felt. Shikamaru's lips were soft and gentle and Neji loved it.

Neji tensed, but only for a moment, as he felt Shikamaru's other arm around his waist, pulling him slightly closer to the other.

With slight hesitation Neji grabbed Shikamaru's arms and kissed back, intensifying the kiss even more. But after a few more blissful moments Shikamaru pulled away slightly.

Neji opened his eyes and stared at Shikamaru, who was gazing at him lovingly.

Shikamaru smiled and leaned forward to peck Neji's lips one more time. "In love yet?" He murmured softly as he gazed at Neji with a foolish smile playing on his lips.

Neji chuckled at Shikamaru's question. Even after kissing someone so intimately the boy could come up with remarks like this. There was probably not one person who would ever understand how the mind of Shikamaru Nara worked.

"Don't worry," Neji told Shikamaru with a grin, "if you keep this up it won't take that long." He continued cheerfully because he was quite happy right now. He had all reasons in the world to be.

With a soft sigh of relief Shikamaru took a step back and his shoulders slumped. "Well, at least now the hard part is over." He said with a cheeky grin.

Neji looked at the other with an amused look and laughed. With a raised an eyebrow he said: "You think that making me fall for you was the hard part? Just wait until you meet my family."

**The end**

**Author's note:**

Well, this is it. The end of finding out who the secret admirer was.  
I hope everyone enjoyed this fic. I want to thank everyone who reviewed for letting me know throughout the chapters what you thought of the story and how it was progressing.  
I also want to thank my Beta for all of her hard work (even through sickness ^_^) and good ideas she contributed when I was in need of them!

But the story continues…  
I am already writing the **sequel of this story** and I will be filled with joy to see you there for more adventures between Neji and Shikamaru. If you wish to be notified when I put up the first chapter of the sequel just PM me with your e-mail address (or other way to contact you properly) and I will let you know!

I hope you have all enjoyed this as much as I did!  
With love,  
China Dolly


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